Participants will learn about eating well, activities to keep the body and mind fit, sleep and stress management to enhance emotional well-being.Įxercise: Low to medium impact exercises that can be done daily to keep fit.Ĭore Cognitive Rehabilitation Component: Memory, attention, executive function and visual spatial rehabilitation.Įmotional Well-Being: Stress management and relaxation techniques. Over 8 weeks, participants will be empowered and engaged with activities focusing on :īrain Essentials: Staying healthy promotes both cognitive and general wellbeing. Have made significant physical recovery with minimal physical disability or none.Not have any prior diagnosed psychiatric conditions.Not have prior memory complaints or diagnosis of dementia made by any doctor.Have been experiencing poor memory three to 12 months after their last stroke.Have had a stroke not more than 12 months ago.

To join the programme, participants should : Current stroke rehabilitation programmes emphasise mainly on physical and functional rehabilitation but not cognition. This is also likely to increase the chances of institutionalisation and contributes to a higher mortality rate.Īs a growing public health burden, care options for PSCI are limited both in Singapore and worldwide as PSCI is under recognised and as a result undertreated. However, if left untreated or undiagnosed, these impairments can affect the quality of life, mental health and employability with deteriorating cognition. PSCI patients being in the mild cognitive impairment stage, may present with a lesser degree of impairment in global cognition, mental flexibility, problem solving, attention, long-term memory, information processing speed, language, and navigation ability.

The global incidence of PSCI in stroke patients is reported to range from 20 to 40%. Currently, data from NNI demonstrates that 37.3% of patients develop post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) within six months post stroke 1. Singapore experiences one of the world’s highest rates of stroke, with more than 7,000 new stroke patients each year. Stroke is currently the second largest cause of acquired cognitive decline globally. Studies have shown that effective cognitive rehabilitation approaches have been reported for neurological deficits such as neglect and aphasia, hence the SMaRT Programme seeks to improve cognitive outcomes for better management of PSCI. While most improvements occur in the first three months, it is optimal for rehabilitation to continue for at least one year after the stroke. The programme covers commonly affected cognitive domains such as memory, attention and executive function (complex planning, higher thought process and execution of these tasks).Ĭognitive decline may continue post stroke, though 16 to 20% of patients will improve in their cognition. Participants will take part in educational talks and handson activities. The programme caters to stroke patients (within the first year of suffering a stroke) with mild physical impairments but significant cognitive impairments. SMaRT is a structured rehabilitation programme to help post-stroke patients improve aspects of cognition like memory, attention and executive function. The Temasek Foundation-National Neuroscience Institute Stroke Memory Rehabilitation (SMaRT) Programme is a three-year collaborative project which aims to provide a comprehensive preventive treatment regime for post-stroke patients to prevent cognitive decline. An optimal therapeutic program that would help stroke patients enjoy additional years with higher quality of life is presented.ĭementia memory neuropsychological assessment vascular dementia.STROKE MEMORY REHABILITATION (SMART) PROGRAMME

The proposed PSMA is expected to assess different types of memory functionalities that are related to different parts of the brain according to stroke location. This review aims to combine available neuropsychological assessments to develop a post-stroke memory assessment (PSMA) scheme based on the most recognized and available studies. This review starts with stroke types and risk factors associated with dementia development, followed by a brief description of stroke diagnosis criteria and the effects of stroke on the brain that lead to cognitive impairment and end with memory loss. This article focuses on the role of available neuropsychological assessments in detection of dementia and memory loss after stroke. Numerous neuropsychological assessments are being used to evaluate and differentiate cognitive impairment and dementia following stroke. Currently, efforts are being exerted to assess stroke effects on the brain, particularly in the early stages. Stroke patients have a high potential to develop dementia within the first year of stroke onset.

Cognitive impairment and memory dysfunction following stroke diagnosis are common symptoms that significantly affect the survivors' quality of life.

Memory loss after stroke