A network of sites and ‘up-skilled’ therapists to deliver best-practice stroke rehabilitation of the upper limb

Our partnership of clinicians, health providers, consumers, researchers and academics aims to increase access to science-based stroke rehabilitation of the arm and hand and achieve better outcomes for stroke survivors. We will deliver a knowledge translation hub, specialist delivery clinics, and a community of up-skilled therapists embedded in a range of health care settings. We will also develop an implementation template to guide future translational activities and delivery of science-based rehabilitation interventions.

Effective therapies are available to improve hand function after stroke. However, our national survey found that stroke survivors with impaired touch sensation are not receiving recommended best-practice therapy. We formed a partnership of clinicians, health providers, consumers, researchers and academics, with the aim to increase access to best-practice upper-limb rehabilitation and thus achieve better outcomes for stroke survivors. We developed a ‘knowledge transfer’ intervention and partnered with eight healthcare networks to improve implementation in existing clinical practice settings. With the support of a National Health and Medical Research Council Partnership grant, we expanded our collaborative team to create a centralised knowledge-translation hub and four specialist therapy centres. Our model is working to increase access through: education and upskilling of therapists; provision of specialist community services to complement existing services; embedding a community of up-skilled therapists in healthcare settings; and creation of a structure to support and sustain change.