Stroke rehabilitation. Minimizing the functional deficits.

Stroke rehabilitation has evolved into a complex multidisciplinary team approach that aims to return the patient with significant neurologic and functional deficits to as independent and productive a lifestyle as possible. Stroke patients should be evaluated from a rehabilitation standpoint; disabilities should be assessed in terms of their impact on function at home and in the community, both in the vocational and in the avocational sphere, and specific rehabilitation needs should be identified. Rehabilitation is expensive; however, the cost of institutionalized care in a nursing home for a long time is much greater. With effective rehabilitation programs and positive support from families and friends, about 80% of stroke patients can be successfully returned to their home environment.