Whittier Health Network

Stroke Rehabilitation Programs: Inpatient and Outpatient

Having a stroke is a life-changing event. How soon you get treatment and are stabilized, and how soon you begin rehabilitation, can make all the difference in getting back home and to your life. At Whittier we offer a continuum of post-hospital stroke care: long-term acute care, intensive inpatient rehabilitation, and stroke rehabilitation on an outpatient basis, in Haverhill and Westborough, MA.

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What is a stroke?

A stroke or cerebrovascular accident (CVA) presents as either bleeding in the brain (hemorrhagic stroke) or as a blood clot lodged in the blood vessels of the brain (ischemic stroke). Transient ischemic attacks, or TIAs, are sometimes called “mini-strokes” and are considered warning strokes, as they often foreshadow a more severe CVA and should not be ignored.

Remember the acronym FAST, which represents the symptoms of a stroke or TIA: Facial drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, and Time to call 911. A stroke is a medical emergency and those suffering a stroke should be taken to a hospital immediately.

Effects of a stroke

Some of the most common challenges that people may face after a stroke include:

Weakness or paralysis on one or, rarely, both sides of the body
Reduced gait and motor function
Impaired coordination and balance, or in more serious cases ataxia, a degenerative condition of the nervous system
Difficulty speaking or understanding language
Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)
Emotional and behavioral changes such as depression, anger or frustration
Impaired cognitive ability
Sensory changes such as vision problems
Reduced or lack of sensation in parts of the body

stroke rehabilitation stroke recovery Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital Bradford Westborough Massachusetts

The stages of stroke rehabilitation

Hospital ER / Acute Care Stage

The critical time after a stroke is to get to the hospital ER within 3 hours of noticing stroke symptoms so that the clot-busting drug tPA can be administered if warranted. A CT scan or an MRI must be performed to determine whether the stroke is ischemic (caused by a clot) or hemorrhagic (caused by a bleed). The patient typically stays in acute care for five to seven days while the effects of the stroke are evaluated and a rehabilitation plan is determined.

Long-Term Acute Care

Some stroke patients have special medical problems such as not being able to breathe or swallow on their own, and continuing complex medical care is the first priority. These medically complex patients require longer inpatient recuperative stays and medical and nursing care of their conditions. Many Whittier patients in our service areas choose to transfer to one of our dual-certified long-term acute care hospitals ( LTACHs.) Our rehabilitation teams provide our patients with a seamless continuity of care throughout their stroke rehabilitation journey within our two conveniently located LTACHs: one in Haverhill, MA, and the other in Westborough, MA.

Continued recovery in an Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF)

After the acute hospital stay, rehabilitation can continue in an inpatient rehabilitation unit or independent rehabilitation facility, if the patient can benefit from being monitored by a physician and can tolerate three hours of therapy per day. Patients in Whittier’s IRFs achieve better outcomes than those who don’t participate in a high-quality stroke rehab program like ours. IRFs provide the most intensive therapy and the greatest variety of rehabilitation services. Stroke survivors who qualify for and have access to IRF care should receive treatment at this level of care. Our experienced team utilizes an interdisciplinary, coordinated approach requiring patient participation at least 15 hours per week, usually over six days.

Your multidisciplinary stroke treatment team at Whittier may include:

Doctors
Specialist stroke nurses
Healthcare assistants and rehabilitation assistants
Physiotherapists
Speech and language therapists
Dietitians
Occupational therapists
Eye specialists
Psychologists.
Social workers
Pharmacists

Transitional Care

Some patients may continue their stroke recovery with transitional care, ensuring treatment continuity and health care coordination before they are discharged from hospital to home. The benefits of transitional care include improvement in a patient’s motor performance, walking speed, and activities of daily living (ADLs).

Outpatient Stroke Rehabilitation

After discharge from an inpatient setting, patients may receive ongoing care in Whittier’s Outpatient Neurology Rehabilitation Program – a medically-based, intensive interdisciplinary outpatient program that provides individually tailored comprehensive care to treat the physical, psychological, cognitive, communicative, and vocational consequences of a stroke or other neurologic injury. In addition to skilled therapy, patients meet regularly with the medical staff who focus on education, support and coordinating the highest level of medical and rehabilitative care. Our ultimate goal is to teach lifelong skills which will foster independence, ongoing recovery, a healthy lifestyle and wellness.

At Whittier we help patients recover

We are happy to report that 88% of our stroke program participants achieve that goal. More than 40% of participants return to driving, and nearly 60% return to work. Additionally, 72% of our stroke rehab patients showed an improvement during the 6-minute walk test, which is used to assess which stroke-related physical impairments influence functional walking at 30 days from stroke onset.

Recovering from a major medical event like a stroke can be difficult for patients and their loved ones. Our stroke survivor patients receive professional care from Whittier’s dedicated inpatient and outpatient teams to facilitate a safe discharge back to home and community. To make a referral, arrange a tour of our facilities in Massachusetts, or for more information, please call our Central Admissions Office at (800) 442-1717, or you may contact your hospital clinical liaison directly.