Stroke Rehabilitation Planning for Optimal Care Delivery

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who see people after stroke in acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, outpatient clinics, home care, or long-term care, and who want a clear summary of what the current Canadian guideline says about how stroke rehabilitation should be planned and delivered.

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants; also useful to occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, rehabilitation nurses, and rehabilitation program managers involved in stroke care.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Introductory

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

This course reports on a single source document: the seventh-edition update of the Canadian Stroke Best Practice Recommendations, Rehabilitation, Recovery and Community Participation following Stroke — Part One: Stroke Rehabilitation Planning for Optimal Care Delivery, Update 2025.

Canadian Stroke Best Practice Recommendations, Rehabilitation, Recovery and Community Participation following Stroke, Part One: Stroke Rehabilitation Planning for Optimal Care Delivery, Update 2025. First author Michelle LA Nelson; second author Jing Shi; senior author Anita Mountain. Published in the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (www.ajpmr.com), with online supplements and a French translation available through the journal. Development funded in its entirety by Heart & Stroke, with no commercial funding. Literature searched for this module was current to March 2025.

Scope note

The guideline was written for the Canadian health system and its statistics describe Canada. Every claim and number in this course comes from that document. Where the guideline itself directs clinicians to act, the course reports that as the guideline’s own wording, not as instruction from the course.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe the scope, structure, and stated purpose of Part One of the seventh-edition Canadian Stroke Best Practice Recommendations for stroke rehabilitation planning.
2. State what the guideline reports about early rehabilitation screening, the timing of mobilization after stroke, and the therapy intensity it recommends in inpatient and outpatient settings.
3. Explain what the guideline concludes about interdisciplinary team composition, virtual rehabilitation, transition planning, and support and education for families and caregivers.

1. Start Here: How This Course Works
2. Podcast: Planning Stroke Rehabilitation, Hospital to Home (about ten minutes)
3. What the Seventh-Edition Update Covers and Who It Concerns
4. How the Guideline Panel Built the Recommendations
5. Screening, Assessment, and Choosing the Rehabilitation Setting
6. Intensity, Virtual Delivery, Transitions, and Family Support
7. Where the Evidence Is Thin and What It Could Mean in Practice
8. Key Takeaways
9. Post-Test and Course Evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 0.5 contact hours (30 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. This course reports on a single source document: the seventh-edition update of the Canadian Stroke Best Practice Recommendations, Rehabilitation, Recovery and Community Participation following Stroke — Part One: Stroke Rehabilitation Planning for Optimal Care Delivery, Update 2025.
2. Canadian Stroke Best Practice Recommendations, Rehabilitation, Recovery and Community Participation following Stroke, Part One: Stroke Rehabilitation Planning for Optimal Care Delivery, Update 2025. First author Michelle LA Nelson; second author Jing Shi; senior author Anita Mountain. Published in the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (www.ajpmr.com), with online supplements and a French translation available through the journal. Development funded in its entirety by Heart & Stroke, with no commercial funding. Literature searched for this module was current to March 2025.
3. Scope note
4. The guideline was written for the Canadian health system and its statistics describe Canada. Every claim and number in this course comes from that document. Where the guideline itself directs clinicians to act, the course reports that as the guideline's own wording, not as instruction from the course.