Stroke Recovery and Stroke Rehabilitation

After a stroke, your path to recovery is unique. Henry Ford Health offers the full range of services, including specialized inpatient treatment and outpatient stroke rehabilitation. At every turn, you receive care from specialists with a shared commitment to helping you reclaim wellness.

Stroke Recovery and Stroke Rehabilitation at Henry Ford: Why Choose Us?

Stroke care and recovery are a team effort. While you are in the hospital, doctors meet daily to assess your progress and determine the next steps. As you feel better, we coordinate rehabilitation services for a smooth transition back to daily life. Throughout your care journey, we are here for you with personalized care and additional support.

Highlights of our program include:

• Stroke step-down unit: We are among the few programs in Michigan with a stroke step-down unit. You are under the careful watch of specially trained nurses who get to know you. They can detect subtle changes that may signal a complication. Nurses work efficiently with stroke doctors to save precious time, so you receive additional therapies as quickly as possible.
• Innovation: We are advancing stroke survivorship through research. Our efforts include new therapies to prevent brain swelling in patients who suffer a severe stroke. Find out more about stroke innovation and research.
• Timely stroke rehabilitation: Therapists start getting to know you and assessing your needs as soon as you are well enough to get moving safely.
• Support: Surviving a stroke is not only challenging for you. It can be a difficult experience for your loved ones as well. We help make this time a little less stressful with assistance from social workers. We also offer stroke education and support groups.

Inpatient Stroke Recovery

Inpatient stroke care at Henry Ford includes:

Neuro intensive care unit (neuro ICU)

After acute treatment, many patients begin their recovery in the neuro ICU at Henry Ford Hospital – one of the busiest in the Midwest. Fellowship-trained neurointensivists and nurses, all of whom specialize in caring for stroke patients, provide around-the-clock care. Our close attention to your needs keeps your recovery moving forward. Read more about our neuro ICU.

The first steps of your recovery may include:

• Prevention and treatment of complications such as brain swelling, that sometimes occur after blood flow is restored to the brain.
• Minimizing the risk or effects of complications that many stroke survivors face, including brain injury and a second stroke.
• Lifesaving care for survivors of severe stroke, including ventilator assistance if you need support with breathing.

Stroke step-down unit

As your recovery progresses, you receive ongoing monitoring and therapies in our stroke step-down unit. Your care team includes many of the nurses who treated you in the neuro ICU.
Having a consistent care team means your providers already know you and understand your medical needs.

Care in the step-down unit includes 24-hour brain activity (continuous EEG) monitoring. Our caring staff is in regular contact with you. We help you stay comfortable while checking for easy-to-miss signs of complications or another stroke. The quicker you receive treatment for complications, the better your chances of recovery.

Stroke Rehabilitation

Our highly skilled neurorehabilitation team works with you to lessen the effects of stroke on your daily life. We use a personalized approach to help you regain as much independence as possible. Recovery starts with a thorough assessment from an experienced physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor, also known as a physiatrist. They design your treatment plan and coordinate your recovery care with other specialists.

Stroke rehabilitation may include:

• Occupational therapy to rebuild skills for performing everyday activities such as bathing and getting dressed. Explore our occupational therapy services.
• Physical therapy to improve stamina, reduce pain and strengthen coordination. Find out more about physical therapy.
• Speech therapy to help you regain your ability to communicate and swallow. Get more information about speech therapy.

As your hospital discharge date approaches, we develop a longer-term rehabilitation plan that may include:

• Outpatient rehabilitation: Many patients receive outpatient services, allowing them to spend more time at home and with loved ones. Stroke rehabilitation services are available in more than 20 locations throughout southeast and south central Michigan.
• Inpatient rehabilitation: Patients who need additional assistance during their recovery receive inpatient rehab. Programs at Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital and Henry Ford Macomb Hospital exceed national standards of excellence. Explore inpatient physical rehabilitation.