Study to Validate the Effects of an Outpatient Secondary Prevention Program for Stroke Victims

The comprehensive outpatient program is designed to last for 12 weeks. Participants are treated in groups of 8 or less. Every week there are two days with therapeutic and educational sessions, once with two hours of physical exercise therapy and once with 45 minutes of aerobic ergometer training and one hour of lecture and counseling. On the day with the two hours of physical therapy one of the sessions includes aerobic ergometer training or Nordic walking, and the other session focuses on improvements of fine motor skills, coordination, balance, mobilization, stretching, weight training or breathing. The lectures include three lectures on etiology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of stroke by a neurologist, one on vascular risk factors by a cardiologist, five on nutrition counseling by nutritionists, two on active and passive smoking cessation and one lecture on psychological coping strategies given by a neuropsychologist.

Standard treatment by family physician.