What is rehabilitation?

The many definitions of rehabilitation, most of which apply well to stroke, can be confusing. However, a clear consensus exists that the purpose of rehabilitation is to limit the impact of stroke related brain damage on daily life by using a mixture of therapeutic and problem solving approaches (see box 1).2 3 4 The high incidence and prevalence of stroke imply that stroke rehabilitation should be a major component of health service provision. In England, for example, the healthcare costs associated with stroke have been estimated at £2.8bn (€4.1bn; $5.5bn) a year.^w3 A stroke is not simply a brain disease but affects the whole person and the family. There are few other conditions of such complexity that require the challenge of providing highly individualised, complex treatments to large numbers of patients.