Carers in touch
A stroke changes life in an instant for the sufferer and his or her family, but there is help out there to make the best of life during the next stage, if you know where to find it. Yours can help...
Ahusband or wife can find themselves as a carer without any warning after a stroke – it’s a condition which turns everyone’s world upside down.
The My Stroke Guide from the Stroke Association can connect you with others through an online community and help you with advice, information, videos and support.
My Stroke Guide gives free access to information about different types of strokes, risk factors and secondary conditions. By joining the online community, you can share stories and tips with thousands of other people in similar situations and find out how they manage the recovery process.
The guide offers advice on dealing with the after-effects in physical, emotional and practical ways – dealing
Celebrate the small successes – try to keep calm and don’t over-complicate things
with speech and communication problems can be particularly hard following a stroke.
The guide has a My Profile section for your own personal details and a My
Goals area where you can list things you want to achieve during what is a difficult time.
Advice for carers from a former stroke patient
■ Be patient – try to keep calm and focus on resolving problems
■ Don’t over-complicate things – break tasks down into individual steps and give me simple instructions one at a time
■ Encourage – practise my exercises with me. If my progress is slow it can be easy to think things will never get better. Try to celebrate small successes
■ Don’t do everything for me – help me to do things on my own rather than doing everything for me. Maybe lay out my clothes but let me dress myself, or provide the ingredients for a sandwich so I can make it myself if I’m able to
■ Find new ways to communicate – if I can’t express myself, find out what can work for us both. Get involved with speech and language therapy and make sure you include me in conversations and activities
■ Help me get the right support – cognitive problems are easily missed by doctors. Don’t be afraid to push for the support I might need.
■ For help and support, visit www.stroke. org.uk or call the Stroke Association helpline on 0303 3033 100 or email helpline@stroke. org.uk The Stroke Association has two useful guides for carers – Stroke: A Carer’s Guide and Supporting a Stroke Survivor can both be downloaded from the website