Goal setting in stroke rehabilitation : a systematic review and qualitative synthesis of the experiences and perspectives of healthcare professionals

Goal setting is an integral component of stroke rehabilitation. It refers to a collaborative process where patients and one or several members of the multidisciplinary team agree on specific, often time-limited, targets.1 Such collaboration helps ensure that goals are both personally meaningful to the patient and clinically focused in light of stroke-related impairments. In practice, goals in rehabilitation may involve short-term, quantifiable, aspects of progress in the rehabilitation setting, such walking a twenty-meter distance for someone with mobility problems. Goals can also be more long-term, and relate to participation in the community, such as attending a concert with a loved one.