Millions of people each year who experience a stroke are left with a permanent brain injury through a lack of rehabilitation and the health and fitness industry has a critical role to play in fixing this

Globally, around 15 million people will have a stroke in the next 12 months. Five million will die, five million will recover and the other five million will be left permanently impacted, with life-changing disabilities.

Just as swift medical treatment following a stroke can substantially improve the outcome, so rehabilitation, when delivered in a timely way, can help the brain heal and enable people to avoid long-term disability.

The window of opportunity to undertake rehabilitation is short, this window closes fast and without it people do not recover. The first three to six months are critical.

The awful news is that we are failing to deliver the levels of support needed, condemning people to live with permanent brain injury for the rest of their lives when this is absolutely avoidable for the majority – were they able to access the right interventions.

Two new sets of guidelines lay out clinical best practice for stroke recovery and they are both exercise-related. In March 2023, the The National Clinical Guidance for Stroke was published, recommending six hours of activity a day, to include exercise.

New guidelines from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), published this month, recommend three hours of exercise a day.

Writing on page 55, Dr Andy Kerr of the University of Strathclyde says most patients received “minimal rehabilitation”, as therapists struggle to meet demand.

Kerr says on a typical hospital ward, there may be two therapists for 40 or more stroke patients and when they’re discharged, their homes are often not suitable for rehab work, so therapists are limited to the exercises they can prescribe.

This is a scandal of epic proportions and one the health and fitness industry is well-placed to address as part of its remit to widen services into health.

Please read our feature on stroke rehab, which starts on page 54 and take action by setting aside facilities and resources to support people with stroke to heal themselves. Every day you delay will be having a direct impact on their lives and the lives of their families.

Great examples are given by our experts and there is already good expertise in the sector when it comes to delivering this support – we just need much more of it.

Technology can help and Strathclyde is using VR, treadmills, power-assisted equipment, balance trainers and upper-limb training systems.

Please make this one of your new year resolutions and let us know how your plans progress so we can share them.