Stroke Rehabilitation
High-intensity, task-specific physiotherapy after stroke drives the largest functional gains. Delivered in our clinics, at home, or in residential aged care across Sydney.
Common symptoms
- One-sided weakness or paralysis (hemiparesis)
- Balance and falls risk
- Difficulty walking or transferring
- Loss of fine motor control
Common causes
- Ischaemic stroke (clot)
- Haemorrhagic stroke (bleed)
- Transient ischaemic attack (TIA) with residual deficit
When to seek help
Stroke recovery happens over months and years, not days. The biggest gains usually come in the first three to six months, but useful recovery continues well beyond that — sometimes for years. Most of what determines the outcome is how much purposeful, task-specific practice you get.
We come in when:
- you’ve been discharged from hospital or inpatient rehab and need community-based therapy
- your NDIS plan is in place and you’re looking for a physio, OT or speech pathologist
- progress in inpatient rehab has plateaued and the family wants a fresh set of eyes
- the carer is exhausted and needs practical help with transfers and positioning
- communication or swallowing have changed and need ongoing work
How we treat stroke rehabilitation
High-intensity, task-specific practice is what changes outcomes after stroke. Practising the thing you want to get better at, in the way you actually do it, with enough repetitions to drive change. Practising walking by walking. Practising getting dressed by getting dressed.
We work alongside your speech pathologist and occupational therapist (often all three from our team) so the rehab program is coherent — not three people pulling in different directions. Reports go to your GP, your neurologist, your Support Coordinator and your family on whatever cadence works.
What the research says about dose
Across studies, the strongest single predictor of motor recovery after stroke is the amount of meaningful practice. Not the type of practice, not the brand of therapy, not the equipment — the amount. Inpatient rehab in Australia averages around an hour a day of active practice; that’s nowhere near the dose used in the trials with the best outcomes.
That’s why home programs matter so much. A 45-minute physio visit twice a week is useful. The 23-and-a-half hours a day that we’re not there is where most of the actual recovery happens. Our job is partly to deliver the session and partly to design a week that the patient and their carer can actually run.
The team you actually need
Most people recovering from stroke benefit from input across three disciplines:
- Physiotherapy for mobility, balance, transfers and gait
- Occupational therapy for daily living skills, home setup, and upper-limb function
- Speech pathology for communication, swallowing, and reading and writing where affected
Having all three under one provider means notes are shared, sessions don’t duplicate, and the program is coherent. It also means the family deals with one intake email rather than three.
Supporting the carer, not just the patient
Stroke is often described as something that happens to a person. It’s closer to the truth to say it happens to a household. The partner, the adult child, the carer — whoever is now lifting, transferring, prompting medications and coordinating appointments — they’re doing a job most people aren’t trained for.
A meaningful part of what we do is teach the people around the patient. Safer transfers from chair to bed. How to cue speech without finishing sentences. How to spot the signs of fatigue before they tip into a full crash. Carer burnout is one of the most common reasons rehab plateaus, and it’s preventable when the carer is part of the team rather than an unsupported logistical backbone.
Common questions about stroke rehabilitation
How much recovery is possible?
It depends on where the stroke happened, how big it was, and how soon meaningful therapy started. Many people regain a great deal of independence; some recover to near pre-stroke function; some live with significant ongoing change. We’ll be honest about what’s realistic in your case, and we won’t cap what you can work towards.
Do you come to the home?
Yes — most of our stroke rehab is delivered in the home, especially in the first six months after discharge. We bring everything needed and use your real environment for the work.
Can you work with my hospital outpatient team?
Yes. With your consent we share notes with hospital outpatient teams, your GP, your neurologist, your Support Coordinator and other community providers. Good stroke care depends on people talking to each other.
When does recovery plateau?
It often slows in the second six months, but "plateau" is too strong a word for most people. Recovery continues for years, particularly in the kind of skills that come from practice (walking distance, hand dexterity, speech). When the rate of change slows, the goal changes from "recovery" to "maintaining and extending function."
Services we use to treat this
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