Transforming healthcare for young adults with stroke

Each day, 18 young Australians (18-45 years) will have a stroke. Almost 1 in 4 of all strokes in Australia are in young people.

Stroke can severely impact a young person’s life. This can include their identity, ability to work or study, relationships and emotional wellbeing. And 88% of young people with stroke say they have unmet needs.

Our Young Stroke Service aims to change this.

Young Stroke Service

There is much we don’t know about why young people have stroke and the best way to support young people in their recovery. Often young people don’t get the right diagnosis or help they need.
At The Florey, we’re building the Young Stroke Service (YSS) to help young Australians with stroke.

Our team will work with young people who have had a stroke, as well as their supporters and clinicians, to offer a range of supports that will help them:

  • understand why they may have had a stroke
  • understand how to protect themselves from future stroke
  • get access to services targeting common unmet needs, like getting back to work or study
  • access trustworthy information about stroke and stroke recovery
  • keep in touch and share their progress for 3 to 5 years after their stroke.

Staff from the YSS team will review your participants’ goals with them and develop a plan to address their needs. This may involve more assessments, referrals to other services or treatment from within our program.

Services will be provided either online or face to face. Those who have difficulty with communication and thinking will be given the appropriate support to take part in the service.

The Young Stroke Service will begin in Victoria at Austin Health, expanding to South Australia in the coming months. In the future, we hope to extend the service to other parts of Australia.

Young Stroke Service launches in Victoria

How to access our service

If you are a young person with stroke or support a young person and would like to participate in the Young Stroke Service, you need a referral from a health practitioner. This could be a GP, a member of the hospital treating team or a community-based therapist such as a physiotherapist or psychologist.

Please contact us for a referral form by emailing [email protected].

For any queries please contact our team Monday to Friday from 9 am–5 pm.

E: [email protected]
P: 0427 259 191

Visit the Young Stroke Service website for more information

Our team

The Young Stroke Service is led by Florey researchers who are at the global forefront of stroke research.

Professor Julie Bernhardt and Professor Vincent Thijs combine their respective knowledge of stroke rehabilitation and stroke neurology to lead a collaborative and multidisciplinary team, dedicated to discovering more about prevention and treatment of stroke.

Learn more about the team and the project

Headshot_Julie Bernhardt

Professor Julie Bernhardt

Lead Investigator

Headshot_Vincent Thijs

Professor Vincent Thijs

Lead Investigator

Project partners

  • The Florey
  • Austin Health
  • Flinders Medical Centre
  • La Trobe University
  • University of Technology Sydney
  • Flinders University
  • Monash University
  • University of Melbourne
  • Stroke Foundation
  • Royal Melbourne Hospital
  • Ambulance Victoria

Contact us

Clinic Manager
[email protected]