The practice of exercises for patients with motor sequels post-stroke is essential for the functional recovery. Educational programs can facilitate the repetition of the exercises at home and contribute to the treatment. The objective of this study was to elaborate a home exercise manual for stroke patients. The study consisted of two stages: in the first one, a home exercise manual was made (pilot) with pictures and simple text to facilitate understanding. We made functional assessment of each patient and select the most appropriate exercises that everyone should do at home. This manual has been applied to 17 patients, 70% chronic and acute 30%. After 15 days the patient returned and was asked to reproduce the exercises and report the level of understanding of pictures and text of the manual and if felt pain in perform them. Photos and exercises reported such as difficult were reviewed and created a test version that was applied in another 23 patients resulting in the final version of the manual. The evaluation of the manual pilot was unsatisfactory, with only 56% reported approval of photos and 87% approval of text. After reformulation, the comprehension of the photos and text reached values above 98%. It was possible to obtain an illustrated manual of home exercises, easy understanding and application specific and personal for stroke patients and adaptable for different motor conditions.
stroke; exercise; rehabilitation; health education
