Abstract
Stroke is a very serious and common disease with a high mortality. It is important for patients to start rehabilitation as soon as possible to ensure the use of time-limited brain plasticity.
Early discharge from the hospital allows stroke patients homecoming to continue rehabilitation in familiar surroundings according to the patient's choice. The responsibility for continued rehabilitation is in the hands of patients and their families and the main aim is to adjust the everyday life, reach the maximum of self-sufficiency and return to work if it is possible.
However, discharge from the hospital is sometimes critical for older patients because of lower functional abilities in activities and participations. Some tasks and activities should be difficult for these patients, sometimes appears higher risks, motor, cognitive and facial problems and fear of failure.
It is very important for patients to increase their awareness of available services, the possibilities of ensuring the safety home environment and the availability of the necessary services. For the time and financial reasons, it is almost impossible to provide a home visit for all patients by an occupational therapist to evaluate the home environment, or even propose its treatments and equipment with compensatory aids.
For this reason, occupational therapists in the Czech Republic try to increase the awareness of patients before their discharge from hospital. To raise awareness of patients, a "Summary of Recommendations for patients and their families" was written to provide stroke patients and their families with a clear set of information that is important for increasing self-sufficiency in the home environment.