Rehabilitation of stroke patients begins in the acute care hospital. Patients with mild strokes whose condition is stabilized may leave the hospital for home in less than a week, and may receive outpatient or home therapy. Other patients may be sent to a rehabilitation facility or nursing home where more extensive physician, nursing, and therapist management is available.

Recovery from an ischemic stroke may begin in a few days. Early recovery results from restoration of function in uninfarcted brain regions (for instance, brain regions whose function became abnormal not because of tissue death but because of temporary stroke-related brain swelling). However patients continue to improve for at least six months, and often even longer. At these times long after injury, functional recovery most often involves learning new ways to accomplish tasks.