Stroke Rehabilitation Services

What Is Stroke Rehabilitation?

Stroke rehabilitation may help you improve your overall functioning, independence, and quality of life after a stroke. 

Stroke rehabilitation:

• Focuses on healing and helping you regain independence after a stroke.
• Offers physical, occupational, and speech therapy.
• Provides comprehensive services to assist with recovery.

 Types of stroke rehabilitation programs we offer

Our team will help you and your family decide which rehabilitation program is right for you.

There are several types of rehabilitation programs:

Inpatient/residential programs

• Acute inpatient rehab programs — Provide services while you are a patient staying in a rehabilitation hospital or the rehabilitation unit of an acute care hospital.
• Skilled nursing facility programs — Like hospital programs, you live at the facility during rehabilitation. Skilled nursing programs vary significantly in the rehabilitation services they offer, so obtaining specific information about each one is essential.

Outpatient programs

• Home-based programs — Allow you to live at home and receive rehabilitation services from visiting home health care professionals, typically one to two days per week. An important advantage of home programs is that you learn skills in the same place where you will use them.
• Rehab therapy programs — Allow you to live at home while you receive a full range of services each time you visit a convenient outpatient rehabilitation therapy location, typically one to three days per week.
• Individual rehabilitation services — If you only need certain types of rehabilitation services, such as regular physical therapy or speech therapy, they are available on an individual basis in outpatient and home care programs.

What Conditions Do We Treat?

UPMC’s stroke rehabilitation team cares for people who have lasting effects after experiencing a stroke.

The program includes physical, occupational, and speech therapy to improve your:

• Ability to perform daily living activities, such as bathing and dressing.
• Balance, walking, and overall mobility.
• Cognitive difficulties with thinking and memory.
• Language and speech.
• Swallowing and eating.

Who’s Eligible for Stroke Rehabilitation?

Some people don’t need rehabilitation after a stroke, either because their stroke was mild or they have fully recovered. Others may be too disabled to participate in rehabilitation.

You may be eligible for stroke rehabilitation if you have lasting effects after your stroke and are healthy enough to participate in physical, occupational, and speech therapy, depending on your needs.

When is rehabilitation not recommended?

You may not be eligible for stroke rehabilitation if:

• You are unconscious or too disabled to benefit.
• You are unable to learn and may be better helped by maintenance care at home or in a nursing facility.
• You are too weak for rehabilitation at first and may benefit from a gradual recovery period at home or in a nursing facility.

Our team will help you and your family plan your next steps after you are discharged from acute care. They can also provide or arrange for social services and family education. If you are not eligible for stroke rehabilitation right after discharge, you may recover enough to participate later.

What Stroke Rehabilitation Services Do We Offer?

Our stroke rehabilitation program offers a full range of therapies, including:

• Group activities and recreational therapy — Designed to provide opportunities for support and socialization as you recover after stroke.
• Occupational therapy — Focuses on helping you perform activities of daily living and learning safe, effective strategies to help you overcome challenges.
• Physical therapy — Focuses on improving the way your body moves and may include training in standing, walking, strengthening, and balance exercises.
• Speech-language therapy — Focuses on improving cognition, speech, communication, and swallowing.

What Can I Expect?

When you start stroke rehabilitation, your care team will work with you to set goals based on your needs and the effects of your stroke. Your care team will develop a plan to help you achieve those goals.

If you are receiving inpatient stroke rehabilitation care, you may spend several hours each day participating in different types of therapy. If you are receiving outpatient rehabilitation, your treatment plan may involve multiple therapy sessions per day or just a few therapy sessions per week.

Why Choose UPMC for Stroke Rehabilitation?

When you choose UPMC for stroke rehabilitation, you will receive:

• Access to world-class stroke rehabilitation care — UPMC is among the nation’s most comprehensive stroke rehabilitation centers. Our team uses the latest techniques and therapies to optimize your quality of life and participates in clinical research exploring new ways to enhance stroke recovery.
• A full range of treatment options — We offer a full range of therapies and work closely with you to create a stroke rehabilitation program that meets your recovery needs.
• Multidisciplinary care — We partner with physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians, neurologists, rehabilitation therapists, and other medical providers to provide complete care that helps you achieve your goals.