Article: Daily Herald Tribune - Shared Stroke Experiences As Therapy

By Adam Jackson, Grande Prairie Daily Herald Tribune

Thursday, November 29

Stroke patient Marjorie Steeves speaks to media during a conference at Queen Elizabeth II Hospital Thursday. Steeves suffered a stroke in April and says she is pleased that AHS has set up a peer support network, called Living With Stroke, which will launch in January. (Adam Jackson/Daily Herald-Tribune)

A new Alberta Health Services stroke program is helping victims help other victims.

The new program, Living with Stroke, will launch on Jan. 10 and will join stroke patients with others to help create new bonds and help victims through the stressful and emotional journey to recovery after a stroke.

“It’s a team approach and the more opportunity that you have to talk to people who are actually going through the process, the more you can learn,” said Marjorie Steeves, 56, from Grande Prairie. She suffered a stroke in April, but has since come a long way in her recovery.

“Health care providers can bring one thing to the table, but people who have actually had a stroke, too, bring their own experience and their way of dealing with it.”

Steeves says stroke patients must be able to talk about their personal problems.

“I know that it can improve and I think that the more you reach out, the more you get,” she said. “The people around you – your family and stuff – they are the ones that keep you going.”

The eight, two-hour group sessions will run on Thursdays starting Jan. 10 at St. Paul’s United Church, providing a chance for victims and their caregivers to receive peer help and share personal experiences.

Steeves was in an aerobic aquatic class at the Eastlink Centre when she felt the symptoms come on and was able to make her way to the side of the pool before being attended to by lifeguards on duty.

While visually, most wouldn’t know that Steeves had a stroke in the first place, the last nine months of recovery have been a journey with many steps.

“It’s not like a staircase where you just keep taking the steps and ..."

© 2012 Daily Herald Tribune.

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                          by Daily Herald Tribune, Grande Prairie.