Stroke-associated impairments display a wide variety of clinical signs and symptoms. Therefore, a multidisciplinary team with different experts working closely together is necessary for effective stroke rehabilitation.
In rehabilitation of stroke patients, a holistic view on functioning and disability is necessary to establish an individualized and comprehensive treatment program. The WHO International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) provides a common language to describe individual functioning in a given context suitable for a shared documentation system.
Goal setting has become a central component of effective communication and decision-making in rehabilitation practice, both as part of the process and as a person-centred outcome measure for stroke rehabilitation. Nevertheless, agreed standards on goal setting and evaluation still need to be defined.
Here, we highlight some aspects with relevance for multidisciplinary team building and coordination and for using the ICF in the context of stroke rehabilitation; how to describe individual levels of functioning and disability and to set treatment goals as well as to identify barriers and facilitators to individual functioning and health.
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