More than 50% of stroke patients develop post-stroke cognitive impairment within a year of their stroke. This increases their risk of developing vascular dementia. Hence, there is a need for a structured cognitive rehabilitation care programme for stroke patients to help them recover from cognitive impairment and prevent deterioration into vascular dementia.

The SMaRT programme comprises three components:

1. Development of Care Model and Pedagogy for Cognitive Rehabilitation Treatment

Participants will undergo activities to strengthen memory and improve executive function and attention. They can also elect specific treatments on language and visuospatial abilities based on their post-stroke impairments.

2. Training of SSOs

SSOs in the community will be trained in the principles of cognitive rehabilitation as well as how to deliver and evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment.

3. Provision of Cognitive Rehabilitation Treatment

SSOs will provide rehabilitation service for NNI patients in the community. Patients will be given a take-home kit to reinforce their cognitive rehabilitation exercises at home.