Despite high quality stroke care in Sweden, decreased sensorimotor function, anxiety and pain remains one year after stroke and lead to impaired health and dependence as well as high health care costs. It is therefore urgent to find new rehabilitation strategies. There is some knowledge about effects of touch massage among healthy and patients with ill-health conditions but no study have evaluated touch massage in the sub-acute phase of stroke. Therefore the aim in this project is to study effects of t touch massage in the sub-acute phase after stroke in two main areas; general health and independence.