Interdisciplinary Approaches to Facilitate Return to Driving and Return to Work in Mild Stroke: A Position Paper

Adults with mild stroke face substantial challenges resuming valued roles in the community. The term “mild” provides false representation of the lived experience for many adults with mild stroke who may continue to experience persistent challenges and unmet needs. Rehabilitation practitioners can identify and consequently intervene to facilitate improved independence, participation, and quality of life by facilitating function and reducing the burden of lost abilities among adults with mild stroke. The Health and Wellness Task Force identified 2 important, and often interdependent, goals that frequently arise among adults living with mild stroke that must be addressed to facilitate improved community reintegration: (1) return to driving and (2) return to work. Adults with mild stroke may not be receiving adequate rehabilitative services to facilitate community reintegration for several reasons but primarily because current practice models are not designed to meet such needs of this specific population. Thus, the Health and Wellness Task Force convened to review current literature and practice trends to (1) identify opportunities based on the evidence of assessment and interventions, for return to driving and return to work; and (2) identify gaps in the literature that must be addressed to take advantage of the opportunities. Based on findings, the task force proposes a new interdisciplinary practice model for adults with mild stroke who are too often discharged from the hospital to the community without needed services to enable successful return to driving and work.