Stroke rehabilitation – exercise training

This research was completed on 31 December 2003

Project Leader	Dr J M Gregson, Mr M J Leathley, Mr T L Smith, Dr C L Watkins and Dr A K Sharma.
Location	Stroke Team for Audit and Research, Department of Medicine for the Elderly, University Hospital Aintree, Liverpool in conjunction with the Department of Nursing, University of Central Lancashire, Preston.
Grant awarded	12 March 2001
Start date	30 September 2002
End date	31 December 2003
Grant amount	£19,240.00
Grant code	AP0875

In the UK, around 130,000 people a year suffer a stroke of whom a third end up with severe disability because of weakness in arms and legs. There is emerging evidence that additional early exercise training may be beneficial but this has not been investigated thoroughly. New and easy exercises, which can be done independently between therapy sessions, could directly strengthen arms and legs, and may help people recover more quickly. Patients who have suffered a stroke often feel they would like to start therapy as soon as they can, and the ultimate aim of this work is to improve stroke rehabilitation.