Physical exercise isn't just
good for the body—it's good for the brain. For anyone who hasn’t started
exercising yet, take heart: studies
suggest that starting an exercise program at
any age and in relatively small doses may help improve your memory and prevent
dementia.
Dr. Art
Kramer has
shown that sedentary older adults who started on a regular aerobic exercise
program—3 times a week-- improved their
cognitive function tests scores by 15-20%.
Just 15 minutes of regular exercise, 3 or more times a week is associated with
a delay in onset of dementia and Alzheimer disease. Surprisingly, this small
commitment to exercise decreased the onset of dementia by almost 1/3 (32%.6). Reliable Information about Stroke and Stroke Rehabilitation
In his 2000 edition of Caplan’s Stroke, the most widely used medical school textbook on stroke, Dr. Louis Caplan charged that stroke outcomes could be improved if research findings were put into clinical practice.
To ensure that research is translated into practice, the Canadian Stroke Network has initiated 2 major programs:
- The Evidence-Based Review of Stroke Rehabilitation (EBRSR)
- Stroke Engine
The stroke rehabilitation review team headed by Dr. Robert Teasell, a physiatrist and professor at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario reviews and synthesizes stroke rehabilitation research.
StrokEngine was developed to provide families and health professionals with the most current information about stroke and stroke rehabilitation treatments in language they could understand and use to manage stroke in their situation.
You have access to both the Evidence-Based Review of Stroke Rehabilitation and StrokEngine.
Peer Support Programs
Many people think that impairments and restricted mobility from stroke
lead to increased burden on families, decreases in activities, and fewer
relationships with people beyond close family.
Close your eyes and describe someone between the ages of 65 and 85 who
has had a stroke.
Most Canadianswould likely describe the person with stroke disability in
terms of inactivity, dependence, depression, and social isolation. Likewise, government
documents discuss the costs of aging and disability in terms ofthe high costs
of dependence, and possibility ofreducing costs by increasing “disability free
years”. Media, newspapers and television, sometimes refer to the hospitalized
elderly waiting for nursing home beds as “bed blockers.”
These narratives positionthe elderly, people with stroke, and the
disabled asexpensive recipients of health care dollars and support from
community and family systems.
Are there other ways to talk
about people with disabilities, stroke, and aphasia?
The team at the Britain’s Connect
Aphasia Centre believes there is. Rather than
focusing on health services use and dependency;Connect promotes citizenship,
social engagement, and reciprocity for people with stroke and aphasia. One way Connect
does this is withpeer support. Many Connects aphasia groups are led bypeople
with stroke and aphasia. Within these peer-led support groups, people have
opportunities to:
- develop new friendships,
- re-build a network of personal friends,
- build personal relationships, and
- belong.
Carol Pound (2011) discovered
thatConnect’speer-led
support groupsencouraged reciprocity between stroke survivors and helped people
in the groups to engage in new relationships.Active, engaged peer leaders became
role models for group members.
Read More:
Link to Pound Reciprocity in Aphasia
Community
participation?
Community participation or
community integration, as participation in community activities is often called,
is one goal of rehabilitation programs. After stroke,many people do not
participate in the activities in which they engaged before the stroke. In a
2002 study, Dr. Nancy Mayo found that over half of the people discharged from
stroke rehabilitation programs participated in few personally meaningful
activities. In 2007, Roth and Lovell reported that only one in four people
discharged from an in-patient stroke rehabilitation program were active; 75%
reported few daily or weekly activities. Although Roth and Lovell’s rehabilitation
graduates had good functional recovery, the most frequent activity was “doing
nothing.” Over half did not wash clothes (63.9%), do heavy housework (71.9%),
pursue a hobby (76.7%), drive a car or travel by bus (73.2%), or read a book
(64.8%).
Within disability studies and in the post-stroke
rehabilitation literature there are ongoing debates about the barriers to
community integration and participation in activities. At a practical level,
there are serious questions how barriers to activity can besolved. Disability activists like Tom Shakespeare and
Mike Oliver charge that people with disabilities are not active in the
community because the right supports are not available. They say it is not the
physical impairments that prevent people from participating in activities, but
the lack of supports. Inaccessible communities, including stairs, lack of
accessible transportation, and stigma of disability prevents people from going
out into the community and participating. However, many community integration studies
in stroke relate low participation in activities to the level of the person’s
impairments resulting from stroke.
Norwegian speech
therapist Susan Balandin
(2011) charges that community
presence alone does not denote participation or integration.She advises that
there are five critical factors for active participation:
- Functioning in an ordinary way without receiving special attention. Many people with disabilities argue that they do not want special attention, but similar attention accorded to others.
- Mixing with others without being ignored. People with disabilities are keen to have ordinary relationships and interactions with others.
- Taking part in and contributing to society. There are many ways to take part and contribute to society. One of the most important ways is through either paid or voluntary work.
- Utilizing opportunities. Trying to reach ones potential, maybe with the help of others.
- Being the director of one’s own life. There are countless examples of how people with disability are denied the opportunity to direct their own lives, including their own health care.
Are you active? Tell us your story.
If you aren’t active – what do you
need to help you participate in activities which you enjoy?
Read More
Link Participation by
adults with lifelong disability: More than a trip to the bowling alley
Depression
Information
from Strokengine
Mood
swings and depression are very common in patients with stroke. In fact, at
least 1 person out of 4 will feel depressed or moody after a stroke. Some
studies have shown that the rate of depression is even higher, as high as 1
person out of 2.being depressed may slow down your recovery. Depression may
make you feel less motivated and more tired, and also may cause you to have
trouble concentrating. All these symptoms of depression will slow down your
recovery capacities. Many studies have shown that people with depression after
a stroke do not get better as quickly as people who are not depressed. The
extent to which depression can affect recovery is not really known. It seems
that both physical loss and depression can act on recovery.
People who are depressed share some common traits such as:- getting angry easily or crying easily.
- sleeping too much or too little.
- feeling down.
- being slow mentally.
- feeling guilty.
- feeling less hopeful about the future.
- not wanting to see friends.
- thinking about ending one's life.
There is help for
depression and anxiety. Your health care providers can help you or refer you to
the right resource. Your family and friends can also assist you. Use the
resources around you and accept help from other people.
More information:
Link Depression on Stroke Recovery Edmonton
Are you at high risk for stroke?
There are high-risk primary & secondary
prevention services in the Edmonton Area.
The Regional stroke program also offers information on healthy living
and resources for people who have had a stroke and their care-partners.
Contact:
Regional Stroke Program, Edmonton Area:
780-407-3041 or www.albertahealthservices.ca
Need to Renovate
Your House to Make it more Accessible?
There may be
financial assistance to help you undertake those home modifications.
Home Adaptations for Seniors Independence Program (HASI)This program helps homeowners and
landlords pay for minor home adaptations to extend the time low-income seniors
can live in their own homes independently.
Alberta: Canada
Mortgage and Housing Corporation
1-800-668-2642 or http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/corp/cous/cous_014.cfm
The Residential Rehabilitation Assistance
Program (RRAP) for Persons with Disabilities offers financial assistance to homeowners and
landlords to undertake accessibility work to modify homes of low-income persons
with disabilities.
Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program for Persons with
Disabilities (RRAP)
Financial
assistance to modify dwellings of low-income persons with disabilities
Canada Revenue Agency
If you qualify for the Disability Tax Credit, reasonable expenses relating to renovations or alterations to your home can be claimed as medical expenses on your income tax return.
To qualify, these expenses must be paid to enable the individual to gain access to the dwelling or be mobile or functional within it. For example 1) you can purchase and install outdoor or indoor ramps or stair-lifts where stairways impede mobility; 2) enlarge halls and doorways to allow access to the various rooms of the dwelling; and 3) renovate kitchen or bathroom to make them accessible.
To qualify, these expenses must be paid to enable the individual to gain access to the dwelling or be mobile or functional within it. For example 1) you can purchase and install outdoor or indoor ramps or stair-lifts where stairways impede mobility; 2) enlarge halls and doorways to allow access to the various rooms of the dwelling; and 3) renovate kitchen or bathroom to make them accessible.
Buying a new car or van—Ask about disability programs and rebates
Chrysler, Ford, GM, and many other automobile manufacturers offer "Mobility Programs” that provide rebates for the installation of adaptive equipment in any new vehicle for disabled drivers or people transporting disabled people. These are offered over and above other sale prices, like the employee pricing events or Costco members program.
The Ford Mobility Motoring Program offers financial assistance of up to $1,200 for the installation of adaptive equipment, and up to $200 on alerting devices for hearing impairments, lumbar seats and running boards
The Toyota Mobility Program offers up to a $1,000 allowance to physically-challenged customers who acquire a new or eligible Toyota vehicle. Qualified customers may obtain a Toyota Mobility Program Allowance Application from the salesperson at the time of vehicle delivery.
Under the GM Mobility Reimbursement Program, a customer may be reimbursed up to $1,000 of the cost of any eligible aftermarket adaptive equipment when installed (or reinstalled) on a new or leased vehicle.
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