Disability and rehabilitation
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Stroke rehabilitation programmes aim to improve functional outcomes and quality of life. This study explored long-term outcomes in a cohort of people admitted to two acute stroke units with stroke. Comparisons were drawn between people with aphasia (PWA) and people without aphasia. ⋯ PWA participated in fewer activities and reported worse quality of life after stroke than people without aphasia, even when their physical abilities, well-being and social support were comparable. Implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed.
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Active participation is considered to be a key factor in stroke rehabilitation. Patient engagement in learning is an important part of this process. This study sets out to explore how active participation and engagement are 'produced' in the course of day-to-day multi-disciplinary stroke rehabilitation. ⋯ This exploration of multi-disciplinary rehabilitation practice adds a new dimension to our understanding of the barriers and facilitators to patient engagement in the learning process and provides scope for further research. Harmonising the rehabilitation process across disciplines through more focused attention to ways in which patient participation is enhanced may help improve the consistency and quality of patient engagement.
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Phantom limb pain (PLP) is a distressing condition experienced by many amputees. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether motor imagery could be used to treat PLP. ⋯ The results display individual differences in response to phantom limb movement therapy. Individual differences are discussed in the context of motor imagery ability and the phantom limb phenomenon as a multi-dimensional disorder.