Patient-centered goal-setting in stroke rehabilitation: a scoping review.

The review excluded acute phase rehabilitation, so findings do not apply to goal-setting in the immediate post-stroke period. Studies focusing specifically on aphasia rehabilitation were excluded, limiting relevance to speech-language pathology for communication disorders. The search was limited to Western high-income countries, so findings may not apply to other healthcare systems. Grey literature (such as conference papers or theses) was excluded, which may have missed relevant information. As a scoping review, it maps the extent of research but does not assess the quality of the included studies or the effectiveness of the goal-setting interventions described.

The authors declared that no financial support was received for the work or its publication.

Do not assume that the variability in goal-setting practices implies a lack of skill among clinicians. The review highlights that organizational factors, such as lack of time, resources, and standardized procedures, heavily influence whether goal-setting is patient-centered. It also warns against generalizing these findings to acute care or aphasia-specific rehabilitation, as those areas were explicitly excluded.