State of Stroke Rehabilitation in Australia: A WHO STARS Assessment to Identify Strengths and Gaps Across Policy, Practice and Funding

 The biggest gap is NOTHING TOWARDS 100% RECOVERY! Everyone involved in stroke here needs to be fired!

State of Stroke Rehabilitation in Australia: A WHO STARS Assessment to Identify Strengths and Gaps Across Policy, Practice and Funding

• Lauren J. Christie, 
• Erin Godecke, 
• Maddison Smith, 
• Katharine Scrivener, 
• Kelvin Hill, 
• Joosup Kim, 
• Maria Crotty, 
• Dominique A. Cadilhac, 
• Angela Dos Santos & 
• Natasha A. Lannin

• Review
• Open access
• : 12 March 2025

• Volume 13, article number 12, (2025)
• Cite this article

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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Rehabilitation following stroke is a complex series of assistive and catalytic interventions enabling a survivor to recover and adapt to their stroke. To achieve adaptation, rehabilitation should supplement healthcare across the continuum, however comprehensive evidence on the provision of stroke rehabilitation in Australia is lacking. The aim of this paper was to describe stroke rehabilitation provision, collecting data using the World Health Organisation (WHO) template for rehabilitation information collection (TRIC). Data were analysed descriptively to complete the Systematic Assessment of Rehabilitation Situation (STARS) assessment.

Recent Findings

Challenges include inadequacies in reporting and poor data integration between state- and nationally-funded rehabilitation programs and a lack of evidence illustrating continuity of care(NOT RECOVERY!) across rehabilitation settings. Particular gaps in data on stroke rehabilitation in Indigenous populations and a lack of research to date on cultural acceptability of effective interventions were noted.

Summary

The economic benefit of improved access to stroke rehabilitation nationally is clear, however achieving this needs collaborative and integrated efforts from multiple stakeholders. Findings will inform the establishment of national priorities to strengthen stroke rehabilitation in Australia.

('Access' IS NOT WHAT SURURVIVORS WANT, YOU BLITHERING IDIOTS! They want recovery and you don't understand that?)