Identification of Good Practices in Long-Term Exercise-Based Rehabilitation Programs in Stroke Patients

Table 3

The main characteristics of the strategies collected from the partners’ countries’ interventions.

Action type	Usage
Education/data collection about stroke rehabilitation benefits	There are still many patients (and even healthcare professionals) who are not totally convinced about the benefits of a long-term stroke rehabilitation program. Before trying to improve participation rates, there must be a consensus between the necessity and importance of long-term stroke rehabilitation. Promotional studies are essential.
Test new methodologies to overcome barriers	Mitigation of the barriers to participation is necessary. The number of studies involving large patient cohorts and a long timeframe is still extremely limited. Scientific studies are needed to identify ways to overcome the main causes of non-participation. Countries with more developed stroke rehabilitation system need to focus on the involvement of the hard to reach populations and therefore design specialized studies.
Identify exercise training variables	MY WAY project’s golden rules need to identify the main training variables (intensity, frequency, duration, and type of exercise) that could lead to efficient exercise-based stroke rehabilitation. Countries with more developed stroke rehabilitation system need to aim the implementation of safe and effective exercise training programs and therefore design specialized studies.
Implement methodologies to increase participation	The lack of evidence in support of new technologies means that very few ideas have been implemented on a large scale, and consequently, long-term stroke rehabilitation participation rates have not improved significantly. Increasing participation need not necessarily rest on the evidence of rigorous controlled trials. Many centers/countries are using more of the traditional methods to achieve better results.