Investigation of the home-reablement program on rehabilitation outcomes for people with stroke: A pilot study

BACKGROUND: Reablement is 1 approach to conduct rehabilitation in the community (ie, home environment), which aims to enhance an individual's functional ability to perform everyday activities that individuals perceive as important. We investigated the effects of a home-reablement program on different rehabilitation outcomes in people with stroke. METHODS: A single-blind randomized clinical trial was conducted. Twenty-six people with stroke were randomly assigned to the home-reablement group or control group. For 6 weeks, participants in the home-reablement group received training for activities of daily living (ADL) that they perceived as important but difficult to perform. Participants in the control group received conventional rehabilitation in the hospital. Outcome measures included the Fugl–Meyer Assessment for the upper-extremity (FMA-UE) and the Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 (SIS 3.0) subscales. RESULTS: No statistically significant differences between the 2 groups were noticed in the FMA-UE and the SIS 3.0 subscales (P = .226–1.000). Small effect size (success rate difference = 0.12–0.25) were noticed in the FMA-UE and the 5 SIS 3.0 subscales. The home-reablement group exhibited a greater proportion of participants with scores greater than the minimal detectable change in the FMA-UE and the 6 SIS 3.0 subscales (ie, strength, ADL/instrumental ADL, mobility, emotion, memory, and participation). CONCLUSIONS: People with stroke that underwent the 6-week home-reablement program showed potential for improving their motor function, ADL/instrumental ADL, emotion, memory, and activity participation.