Every stroke is different and affects the person who experienced it differently. If your elderly family member has just had a stroke, she may have a long recovery ahead of her. There are some things that you and her medical team can do that can make that recovery easier overall.
Learn as Much as You Can
When someone you love has a stroke it’s imperative that you learn as much as you possibly can about strokes in general and about how your senior’s stroke affected her. Understanding your senior’s risk factors, both the ones that contributed to this stroke and that might make another stroke possible, helps a great deal. This allows you to be there for her to support her now, but it also helps you to work with her doctor on preventing future strokes. You’ll want a plan for moving forward.
Encourage Your Senior to Stick with Rehab Programs
Rehabilitating from a stroke is hard work, even if the stroke is a minor one. Whether your senior just wants to give up when things get hard or she knows that she’s got a long road ahead of her, she needs a cheerleader. Helping your elderly family member to stick with her rehabilitation programs can help her to regain quality of life that she might have feared lost for good.
Find Ways to Make Her Home Safer
Depending on the parts of your senior’s brain that were affected by her stroke, she may need some home modifications to be safe at home. Adding handrails in areas where your elderly family member may need more assistance walking safely is just one such modification. Rearranging furniture might help, or your senior may need major modifications to make room for a wheelchair.
Work with Home Care Providers
Home care providers can be a huge help to both your senior and you as she recovers. If your elderly family member requires a lot of assistance during the day, that can easily wear you out. Home care providers have experience assisting with daily care tasks and more. They can ensure that you are able to take care of your senior and of yourself, which is important in terms of long-term recovery.
Talk with your senior’s doctor about what you and your senior can expect in terms of her recovery. This helps you both to adjust expectations and to be prepared for the journey ahead.
