Secondary Stroke Prevention Strategies at System Level

In “Secondary Stroke Prevention Strategies at System Level” our panel/experts delve(s) into the following critical questions:

1. Based on trends in economic impact of stroke, what are some areas that should be addressed when designing care strategies?
   1. Please discuss strategies in delivery/systems of care that can improve stroke recurrence (SPC clinics, routine visit with neurologists, BP following, diabetes and anticoagulation clinics, telemedicine, etc.).

In this section, Eva Mistry, MD focuses on system-level strategies to optimize secondary stroke prevention after an ischemic stroke. She stresses the importance of dedicated stroke units, care by stroke specialists, thorough etiologic workups, appropriate rehabilitation, and discharge to the right level of care—approaches that improve outcomes but are still emerging in many developing countries. She highlights major gaps in post-discharge care coordination: patients often live far from comprehensive stroke centers, incomplete workups and poor education about medications and follow-up lead many to “fall through the cracks.” To address this, she and other panelists emphasize early post-discharge follow-up visits, stroke navigators, tele-stroke services, and stronger collaboration with primary care physicians, who must share ownership of long-term risk factor management given the limited number of neurologists.

Tune in to our next episode, “Stroke Prevention Strategies, Patient Communication, and Shared Decision Making,” which further explores secondary stroke prevention strategies.