Care for Stroke Recovery
Do you need help with stroke care for a senior loved one? A trained Amada caregiver who understands what senior stroke survivors are going through can help reduce the risks of recurrence.
Caring for a senior loved one who suffered a stroke will challenge the strongest of families, as the rehabilitation process can involve many variables, take years to achieve and come with many side effects and setbacks. Post-stroke depression is common, with 30 to 50 percent of senior patients experiencing this debilitating condition.
The personalized care provided by a trained Amada Senior Care home caregiver can ease some of the stress that falls on family members as they consider options: Can the home be modified to meet their senior loved one’s new physical needs? How can family caregivers help their loved one effectively manage anti-stroke and other medications? How will you manage trips to occupational therapy, physical therapy and doctors’s appointments? What can be done to lessen stroke complications and prevent reoccurrence?
Whether for a few hours a day or full-time, an Amada caregiver can help senior stroke patients navigate lifestyle changes in their own home, which might include dressing, personal care needs such as bathing, exercising and other Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) that have become difficult. Then there’s the emotional support a professional caregiver from Amada provides to ensure a smooth transition to in-home care while the stroke patient journeys through various stages of recovery and rehabilitation.
Quality of life for seniors is the top priority for an Amada caregiver. Your care provider will understand the risk factors associated with stroke recovery and can assist your family with managing the care plan that has been prescribed by the health care team. When a loved one has had a stroke, you can count on Amada for support.
Because of their training, Amada caregivers:
- Know how important it is to reduce risk factors for stroke recurrence by helping the senior keep on schedule for prescribed medications, follow a healthy diet to support healthy blood pressure, and get plenty of exercise.
- Are alert to physical and mental changes in their senior stroke clients, including any decline in their motor skills, slurred speech or self-care habits, etc., and report these changes to their family members.
- Understand the senior may experience sudden confusion, difficulty in speaking or an abrupt change in behavior or mood (like hysterical laughing or crying), since a stroke may make it difficult for patients to control their emotions. The senior stroke patient may speak with a slur or not be able to speak at all, or even become forgetful, careless, irritable, anxious or depressed.
- Know how to help senior patients avoid falls (a common occurrence following a stroke) and how important it is to report both minor and serious falls to the family for possible treatment.
- Patiently communicate by using short and simple sentences (or even pictures) with senior patients who have developed aphasia, a disorder that impairs a person’s ability to process language and makes it difficult to speak or find the right words.