A team at Tauranga Hospital are involved in a clinical trial which is trying to understand the best ways to help people who have suffered a stroke.
Tauranga Hospital is one of two New Zealand hospitals taking part in one of the largest Australasian clinical trials designed to improve language rehabilitation.
The Very Early Rehabilitation in Speech study seeks to better understand the best way of treating people having difficulty with speech and language (aphasia) after having a stroke.
A team of 11 speech therapists and at least 10 Bay of Plenty patients will be on the trial.
Speech-language therapist Dr Meghann Grawburg, who is leading the research at Tauranga Hospital, said the trial focuses on recruiting patients within the first 14 days following a stroke.