Early Supported Discharge Services for People With Acute Stroke
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Langhorne, P., & Baylan, S. (2017).
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 7, CD000443.
This systematic review investigates the effects of early supported discharge services for individuals with acute stroke. In general, early supported discharge service teams are multidisciplinary; this review provides some information on speech-language pathologists as a part of these teams.
Cochrane Collaboration; University of Glasgow (United Kingdom); University of Edinburgh (United Kingdom); Stroke Association (United Kingdom); Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland (United Kingdom)
Up to 2017; see p. 7 for dates
Randomized controlled trials
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Compared to typical care, individuals who received coordinated, multidisciplinary early supported discharge services were "more likely to report satisfaction with outpatient services or services in general" (p. 16). In the included studies, "the typical multidisciplinary [early supported discharge] (ESD) team comprised physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech and language therapy staff with medical, nursing and social work support" (p. 19).
While evidence was limited, the findings suggest that coordinated, multidisciplinary early supported discharge had better outcomes compared typical care. Individuals receiving ESD services went home earlier, and were more likely to be independent and living at home six months after stroke. No adverse effects were noted.
