Dossier n. 155/2007 [Abstract] Training and communication in stroke care

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability in developed countries. Every year in Italy 250.000 hospitalization are counted: 80% of them are registered as new cases.

Strong evidence indicates that patients’ outcome(s) can be improved through the implementation of the concept of “stroke care” whose cornerstones are: timely referral in a dedicated ward, rapid access to diagnostic imaging as well as an early inception of rehabilitation and interventions aimed at preventing complications. Nonetheless, most people fail to receive appropriate care, neither in the acute nor in the subsequent phase of their management.

The document, prepared by a multidisciplinary panel, provides guidance in the planning, realization and evaluation of the activities of continuing education and communication necessary for innovation processes in stroke care programs. The document is organized in four parts: an introduction on context, proposals and values on which care process are based; the phases of the care process and the priority training scenarios; the documentation of some training experiences; and finally a short story written by Luigi Pirandello in 1906.