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Stroke Rehabilitation in Switzerland versus the United States: A Preliminary Comparison

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, stuart{at}umbc.edu

Christina Ryser

Klinik Valens, Valens, Switzerland

Alan Levitt

Kernan Hospital Baltimore, MD

Serafin Beer

Klinik Valens, Valens, Switzerland

Jurg Kesselring

Klinik Valens, Valens, Switzerland

Sarah Chard

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Michael Weinrich

National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

This article compares the structure and process of rehabilitation for stroke patients at 2 internationally recognized rehabilitation hospitals, Klinik Valens ("Valens") in Switzerland and the William Donald Schaeffer Rehabilitation Hospital at Kernan ("Kernan") in the United States. Although the patient mix, structure, and process of rehabilitation were similar in many regards, there were some important differences. Most notably, on average, patients at the U.S. hospital were discharged from rehabilitation at approximately the same day poststroke that rehabilitation began in Switzerland. Patients remained in an inpatient setting an average of 40 days longer in Switzerland (for the combination of acute care and rehabilitation) and had significantly higher levels of functioning at discharge when compared to their U.S. counterparts. The authors’ findings suggest that Europe may offer opportunities for rehabilitation research that would be difficult to duplicate in the United States and highlight policy-relevant questions for future studies aimed at developing efficient managed care systems for stroke survivors.

Key Words: Rehabilitation • Stroke • Comparative study

Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, Vol. 19, No. 2, 139-147 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1545968305277088


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