Cardiorespiratory Training

Background
Cardiorespiratory training plays an important role in the rehabilitation of stroke and neurological patients. There is a growing body of evidence highlighting the impact of different types, amounts, and durations of physical activity on health outcomes, as well as the negative effects of sedentary behaviour. This has led to recommendations that incorporate physical activity guidance for individuals living with disabilities.

The National Clinical Guidelines for Stroke (2023) have made clear recommendations for cardiorespiratory training as part of a secondary prevention agenda post-stroke. There have also been numerous recommendations made in the various national neurorehabilitation guidelines regarding the importance of physical activity post-diagnosis including:

Current Landscape

Increasing activity: Programmes like Active Hospitals – Moving Medicine aim to embed physical activity into clinical care.
Barriers to exercise: Lack of instructor/clinician confidence, over-cautious approaches, and limited accessibility in gyms and leisure centres.
Gaps in provision: Limited specialist classes and lack of clear pathways for patients to access appropriate training.

Cardiorespiratory Training Workshop – October 2024
There is international consensus on what should be delivered in terms of cardiorespiratory training, but not on how it should be implemented. To address this, GMNISDN collaborated with GM Active and leading researchers and clinicians to consolidate knowledge and explore best practice for delivery.

A workshop was held on 31st October 2024, bringing together stroke and neuro clinicians, GM Active colleagues, clinical academics, and other stakeholders to discuss the current landscape in GM.

A steering group has now been established to develop improved pathways for delivering cardiorespiratory training to stroke and neuro patients.