- Day One
- Day Two
Expanding possibilities
Monday 9 March 2026 Stockholmsmässan, Stockholm
08:45 - 08:55
Welcome from the programme committee chairs
University Ss Cyril and Methodius, North Macedonia
Associate Professor Nicola Hancock
University of East Anglia, UK
08:55 - 09:45
Life after stroke in Sweden
Chair: Professor Bo Norrving
Lund University, Sweden
Chair: Associate Professor Carina Persson
University of Gothenburg, Sweden
The Swedish model of life after stroke care: Organisational success factors
Lund University, Sweden
Monitoring life after stroke in Sweden
President of Sophiahemmet University and chairs the Swedish Stroke Registry, Riksstroke, Sweden
Champions or dedicated advocates
Stroke Survivor, Sweden
Speak to the patient: Counselling support and regular follow-up questions will accelerate the recovery
Stroke survivor, Sweden
Q&A
09:45 - 11:00
Plenary: Life after stroke - What does it actually mean?
Chair: Professor Frances Horgan
RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ireland
Chair: Professor Bo Norrving
Lund University, Sweden
Chair: Associate Professor Olive Lennon
National Rehabilitation Hospital, Ireland
Update on the Stroke Action Plan for Europe's Life After Stroke Pillar
Loughborough University, UK
Life after stroke - what do we mean and how can we support it better?
Associate Professor Olive Lennon
Academic Lead at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Ireland
Working together to co-design a life after stroke support pathway
Nursing and research, Ireland
Taking back control by degrees - My life after stroke journey
Stroke Survivor
11:00 - 11:45
REFRESHMENTS, EXHIBITION & POSTER VIEWING
11:45 - 12:45
Parallel: Fatigue in life after stroke - Research insights and real-world journeys
Chair: Jennifer Crow
Imperial College London, UK
Chair: Professor Avril Drummond
Loughborough University, UK
Recommendations from the International 3rd Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation Roundtable: A roadmap for research in post-stroke fatigue
Nursing, Norway
Co-designing and testing a management programme with peer support for post-stroke fatigue: Nottingham fatigue after stroke study (NotFAST3)
Loughborough University, UK
Holding on to Progress: Fatigue, work and what really matters after stroke
Lived Experience
Q&A
11:45 - 12:45
Parallel: The same, but different - implementation of an evidence-based approach to supporting self-management (Bridges) across 4 European nations
Chair: Professor Fiona Jones
City St George’s, University of London, UK
Chair: Associate Professor Nicola Hancock
University of East Anglia, UK
Key evidence and principles in relation to self-management support in stroke services
Professor of Rehabilitation Research at City St George’s, University of London, UK
Same but different: A comparison of successful self-management support in Estonia, UK, Portugal and Sweden
Neurorehabilitation Centre (HNRC), Estonia
Co-production and quality manager Bridges Self-Management and stroke survivor, UK
The power of collective expertise
Professor of Rehabilitation Research at City St George’s, University of London, UK
Neurorehabilitation Centre (HNRC), Estonia
Co-production and quality manager Bridges Self-Management and stroke survivor, UK
11:45 - 12:45
Parallel: Understanding the mind after stroke - How thinking and emotions shape daily life after stroke
Chair: Dr Anna Tsiakiri
Neuropsychologist, Greece
Chair: Niall Broomfield
University of East Anglia, UK
Thinking, memory and emotions after stroke: What to expect
Neuropsychologist, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece
Brain tools that guide your recovery: Scans and stimulation
Assistant Professor Foteini Christidi
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), Greece
Neurologist, Greece
Real stories: Living with brain changes after stroke
Carer
12:45 - 14:30
LUNCH, EXHIBITION & POSTER VIEWING
14:30 - 15:45
Plenary: A good life after stroke - The contribution of the physical environment
Chair: Professor Marie Elf
Dalarna University, Sweden
Chair: Professor Fiona Jones
City St George’s, University of London, UK
Stroke, environment and participation: Why place matters
Dalarna University, Sweden
Associate Professor Maya Kylén
Kristianstad University & Lund University
Place Mapping: A Participatory Tool to Explore Meaningful Environments Post-Stroke
Postdoc researcher University of Groningen Faculty of Spatial Sciences: Department of Demography, Holland
If you can’t use the environment, Is It recovery?
Stroke Survivor, Norway
PHD Architect, Sweden
Q&A
15:45 - 16:15
REFRESHMENTS, EXHIBITION & POSTER VIEWING
16:15 - 17:45
Workshop: From Experience To Expertise: Survivor-led models that strengthen stroke research, policy, treatment and care (By invitation)
This interactive workshop explores how survivor-led models can strengthen stroke pathways across research, policy, treatment and care, moving beyond involvement toward shared, intentional leadership. Through structured discussion and practical tools, participants will examine what survivor leadership looks like in stroke and other NCDs, and to consider how to build systems where lived experience is embedded rather than symbolic.
Chair: Stacie Broek
Public Advocate, Person with Lived Experience, Switzerland
Chair: Christina Franzisket
German Stroke Foundation, Germany
Stroke Association, UK
Imperial College London, UK
Dalarna University, Sweden
Stroke Survivor, Norway
San Camillo Forlanini Hospital, Italy
Stroke survivor and Patient advocate
Stroke survivor, Portugal
Associate Professor Melinda B. Roaldsen
MD and stroke expert with lived experience
16:15 - 17:15
Parallel: Empowering people living with aphasia: sharing learning through community groups
Chair: Hysse Forchammer
Danish Stroke Association, Denmark
Chair: Sabine Renner Christiansen
Stroke survivor
Online Aphasia Café: A springboard for creating stroke survivor-led aphasia communities
Associate Professor Helen Kelly
University College Cork, Ireland
The Aphasia Communication Team (TACT) – A supportive, motivational, practical andeducational community for people with aphasia
Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus
Online aphasia groups for people with aphasia – from a temporary Covid-19 initiative to a sustainable community
Stroke survivor, Denmark
Associate Professor Jytte Isaksen
Department of Culture and Language, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
Peer-to-peer support: digital networking to improve participation and quality of life in people with aphasia
University of Applied Sciences, Mainz, Germany
Q&A
16:15 - 17:15
Parallel: Making secondary prevention work - Empowering people beyond hospital walls
Chair: Associate Professor Olive Lennon
National Rehabilitation Hospital, Ireland
Chair: Professor Anita Arsovska
University Ss Cyril and Methodius, North Macedonia
Living with stroke: what does prevention really look like after discharge?
Risk factors and secondary prevention in younger people with stroke- are we asking the right questions?
PHD Student
Working collaboratively with a Stroke Support Organisation to implement a co-designed, evidence-based stroke secondary prevention intervention.
PHD Researcher, School of Allied Health, University of Limerick
Q&A
19:00 - 21:00
WELCOME RECEPTION
Reframing the future
Tuesday 10 March 2026 Stockholmsmässan, Stockholm
09:00 - 10:15
Plenary: Addressing health inequalities in stroke care across Europe
Chair: Dr Dagmar Součková
Na Homolce Hospital, Czech Republic
Chair: Dr Jo White
Senior Research Fellow UWE Bristol, UK
Who gets stroke rehabilitation? Utilization, access and decision-making
PhD Student, Faculty of Medicine at Lund University, Sweden
The inclusivity in stroke self-management support project to improve self - management by Black African and Afro-Caribbean communities living with stroke in England
Senior Research Fellow UWE Bristol, UK
The importance of co-designing resources to improve self-management by Black African and Afro-Carribean communities living with stroke
Stroke survivor
Carer
A pathway to addressing health inequalities in Kyrgyzstan
San Camillo Forlanini Hospital, Italy
10:30 - 11:30
Parallel: The impact on families of children affected by stroke
Chair: Katherine Staley
Stroke Association, UK
Chair: Abi Bisset
Stroke Association, UK
My childhood stroke – lived experience: Story of a family whose child was affected by stroke, from a young adult and parent perspective including what helped them on their recovery journey
Carer, UK
Stroke survivor, UK
Clinical perspective of childhood stroke: Presentation of data on the neuropsychological impact of childhood stroke, including the unique challenges faced by families and children seen from a clinical perspective
University Hospital of Bern, Switzerland
Better together: A co-creating journey developing patient information and a community platform
German Stroke Foundation, Germany
10:30 - 11:30
Parallel: Is six months post-stroke the end of rehabilitation? Challenging limited thinking to maximise potential
Chair: Stacie Broek
Public Advocate, Person with Lived Experience, Switzerland
Chair: Jennifer Crow
Imperial College London, UK
Is six months post-stroke the end? Challenging limits to maximise neurological potential beyond this.
Associate Professor Melinda B. Roaldsen
MD and stroke expert with lived experience
Optimising physical recovery when back at home
Lecturer in Health Science at ATU Sligo and Director of ‘Neuroplasticity Research Group’
Investigating changes in quality of life after high-dose, high intensity upper limb rehabilitation in people later after stroke
Highly Specialist Neurorehabilitation Physiotherapist, UCL, UK
10:30 - 11:30
Parallel: Top scoring lived experience, scientific and service abstracts
Chair: Dr Marina Charalambous
Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus
Chair: Diana Wong Ramos
Stroke survivor, Portugal
Lived experience: Falling off a cliff - How getting involved helped the climb back to a full life!
Lived Experience
Lived experience: Finding my voice again - Turning silence into strength
Stroke survivor
Scientific: Effectiveness of abobotulinumtoxin A in stroke survivors with lower limb spasticity
Associate Professor Stephen Ashford
Northwick Park Hospital, United Kingdom
Scientific: From voices to action: A women-centred toolkit for parenting after stroke
Jay and Sari Sonshine Centre, University Health Network and Krembil Brain Institue, Canada
Service development: Safe and inclusive patient involvement: Embedding lived experience in health policy and advocacy
Stroke Association, United Kingdom
Service development: Sex and intimacy after stroke: developing an education package for healthcare staff
Community Rehabilitation Nurse Specialist and Chair of the National Stroke Nursing Forum (NSNF), United Kingdom
11:30 - 12:00
REFRESHMENTS, EXHIBITION & POSTER VIEWING
12:00 - 12:30
Closing remarks
University Ss Cyril and Methodius, North Macedonia
Associate Professor Nicola Hancock
University of East Anglia, UK
12:30 - 16:30