In health works a stroke.
It can happen in a matter of seconds, but the
outcome can be life changing.
Blood is cut off to the brain, leading to possible
weakness, paralysis, or problems with judgement and learning.
So caring for that patient brings its own set of
challenges.
A stroke is complicated.
We're talking about damage to the brain, and its impact
can be wide-ranging.
Often it impairs someone's ability to communicate, which means figuring
out how to help navigate.
Sudden loss of function often falls to family members or
loved ones, and research from University of Michigan finds that
this can cause long term mental health consequences for the
family decision maker.
We followed these families in the first year after the
stroke and measured levels of symptoms of depression, anxiety or
post traumatic stress in the family members.
What we found was that between 20 and 40% of
family members experienced high levels of these adverse psychological symptoms.
This really emphasizes that stroke affects the whole family and
we as healthcare providers need to do a better job
of supporting everyone affected by stroke, including family members and
loved ones.
The psychological side effects for these caregivers include symptoms of
depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress.
A stroke neurologist who helped lead the Texas based study
says while there is much work to do to support
everyone affected by stroke, several available resources can help.
The American Heart Association website has great resources for family
members and loved ones of someone facing a stroke.
Also, many local hospitals, including ours, have stroke support groups
that can be very helpful resources for family members and
patients with stroke.
If you go to stroke.org, you can find a stroke
support group Finder by entering a zip code.
I'll put a link to that on our website, fox2detroit.com.
If you are struggling as a caregiver, remember this.
More than 53,000,000 Americans are caregivers for family members with
chronic illness or disability.
So you are definitely not alone.
That's health works.
I'm Dina Santofanti.