HLE intervention
Patients in the intervention group were instructed by a study speech and language pathologist (SLP) and received written and video instructions and a training diary. One session of HLE consisted of three head lifts in supine position sustained for 60 s and with a 60-s rest in between and 30 consecutive repetitions of head lifts. During the first 8 weeks, patients performed three HLE sessions per day. The first 2 weeks, the study SLP met with the patient two times per week to monitor training technique. The remainder of the period, technique was supervised once every 2 weeks with follow-ups by telephone in between meetings. Only the intervention group had contact with the study SLP during the initial period. After 8 weeks up to 12 months post-intervention, the intervention group was encouraged to continue to do one HLE session per day or a minimum of three sessions per week.There were no statistically significant differences between the groups regarding the given standard care (previously published [