Ukraine’s stroke rehabilitation rates alarmingly low, says Patients of Ukraine representative

In Ukraine, a troubling 10% of stroke patients are currently referred for rehabilitation care, compared to over 60% in other countries, highlighting a significant gap in post-stroke treatment. This issue of patient routing—how individuals are referred for necessary rehabilitation services—has emerged as one of the critical barriers to effective recovery in the country.

Anastasia Boichuk, the strategic lead of the War Trauma Rehabilitation project at the Charitable Foundation “Patients of Ukraine,” addressed the matter during a briefing at the Media Center Ukraine. She stressed the need for a more structured approach to rehabilitation, emphasizing that creating clear referral pathways for patients is essential.

“If we talk about the obvious problems in rehabilitation, it is the issue of routing. Only 10% of stroke patients receive referrals for rehabilitation care. In developed countries, this number is at least 66%. This shows that specialists who treat patients often fail to make the necessary referrals for rehabilitation. They are unclear about when to consult rehabilitation experts,” Boichuk explained.

To address this, Boichuk called for the establishment of comprehensive referral pathways for patients with specific injuries or diseases, along with clear criteria for when rehabilitation should begin. She also highlighted the importance of developing and adapting clinical guidelines to support rehabilitation for conditions such as strokes, amputations, fractures, spinal cord injuries, and cerebral palsy.

“Clinical guidelines for stroke, amputations, fractures, spinal cord injury, and cerebral palsy are already in the final stages of development. However, this is just the beginning. Once these guidelines are in place, we can move forward with developing routes and standards for rehabilitation care,” Anastasia Boichuk concluded.

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news