State of stroke rehabilitation in Australia: a WHO STARS assessment to identify strengths and gaps across policy, practice and funding

Purpose of Review: Rehabilitation following stroke is a complex series of assistive and catalytic interventions enabling a survivor to recover and adapt to their stroke. To achieve adaptation, rehabilitation should supplement healthcare across the continuum, however comprehensive evidence on the provision of stroke rehabilitation in Australia is lacking. The aim of this paper was to describe stroke rehabilitation provision, collecting data using the World Health Organisation (WHO) template for rehabilitation information collection (TRIC). Data were analysed descriptively to complete the Systematic Assessment of Rehabilitation Situation (STARS) assessment. Recent Findings: Challenges include inadequacies in reporting and poor data integration between state- and nationally-funded rehabilitation programs and a lack of evidence illustrating continuity of care across rehabilitation settings. Particular gaps in data on stroke rehabilitation in Indigenous populations and a lack of research to date on cultural acceptability of effective interventions were noted. Summary: The economic benefit of improved access to stroke rehabilitation nationally is clear, however achieving this needs collaborative and integrated efforts from multiple stakeholders. Findings will inform the establishment of national priorities to strengthen stroke rehabilitation in Australia.