Navigating Stroke Recovery, The Role of Residential Rehab
High-quality stroke rehabilitation is essential to support recovery, independence, and emotional wellbeing
Here in the UK, there are around 100,000 new cases of strokes every year, alongside an estimated 1.2 million stroke survivors, making this a prevalent condition and an often critical health event that occurs once every five minutes.
Following a stroke, the road to recovery can be long and complex. Around half of all stroke survivors need care and assistance to get back to their previous lifestyle, with some never recovering all of their mobility and communication skills.
This is why dedicated, expert stroke rehabilitation care is so vital, as the Forest Healthcare group explains, ensuring every person has the help they need to make as full a recovery as possible, and receives emotional support as they regain the confidence to live independently and happily.
Why Do Stroke Survivors Need Post-Hospital Care?
Strokes vary considerably in severity, and some people might experience a minor stroke. In these cases, they might feel well enough to return straight home without any major or life-changing impacts – but this isn’t always the reality and is considered a best-case scenario.
We’d also point out that there are ongoing care considerations even when someone has a relatively minor stroke. If the cause of the stroke, where a blockage or bleeding in the brain has interrupted the blood supply, is likely to happen again, diligent monitoring and access to immediate help could be crucial.
The early days after a stroke are the most important because those first days and weeks are when most stroke survivors see dramatic improvements in their motor control and movement. Still, many of our care recipients require ongoing support and continue to experience improvement in their symptoms over several years.
Stroke rehabilitation is a specialist type of care that aims to ensure someone who has had a stroke is properly monitored to avoid the risk of another episode, and has interventions as soon as possible, alongside longer-term assistance that is as holistic and supportive as it is about practical care and mobility.
Experiencing a stroke can be incredibly frightening, distressing and accompanied by a long hospital stay. We never assume someone can head straight home, even if they are deemed medically fit to do so, because this could cause unnecessary stress, fear and worry.
What Does Stroke Rehabilitation Care Involve?
Every person’s rehabilitation plan might look different and will depend on their symptoms, the severity of the stroke, and the impact this has had. As an overview, our stroke specialists, nursing teams and compassionate care professionals put together personalised care plans once we've had the chance to chat with the person or their loved ones to understand their needs.
For many, this includes physiotherapy and exercises that help with movement and muscle control, a common requirement which encourages the affected muscles or nerve connections to become stronger.
Other stroke survivors need cognitive rehabilitation to rebuild their concentration, thinking and memory skills, speech and language therapies to improve speech, and therapies that are designed to address anxiety and depression, swallowing, vision and using the bathroom independently.
Rehabilitation teams within the Forest Healthcare group have access to every therapy, piece of equipment, and specialist support needed to provide a comprehensive stroke recovery plan, adapting rehabilitation to the individual's ability and comfort, and ensuring they are happy and motivated.
What Difference Can High-Quality Stroke Rehabilitation Make?
As we’ve noted, delaying care or attempting to follow a care plan at home isn't always ideal, especially if a person doesn't feel ready to return home, is anxious about their well-being, or lacks the support necessary to follow exercises and use equipment to focus on proper rehabilitation.
Recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence support this, stating that stroke rehabilitation should be assisted by professional carers, such as those working in stroke units.
That’s because stroke recovery isn’t about one particular effect of a stroke, and there isn't a singular way to help a person regain their motor skills, relearn speech abilities, or feel confident they can go about their day as they would have before their stroke.
The Forest Healthcare group provides access to exceptional quality stroke rehabilitation through our highly regarded private residential centres, ensuring that every family and individual can gain support from compassionate, respectful care teams who strive to ensure they make the best possible recovery.
Setting goals can be a significant part of that, where we might, for instance, organise residential care until a stroke resident feels able to move independently, prepare their own meals, take prescribed medications, communicate unassisted, or manage their personal care needs.
In other scenarios, where this level of recovery is unlikely, we might structure stroke rehabilitation care for as long as necessary until the person has made a sufficient recovery to return home safely, or until adaptations are made to their home environment to protect their well-being and comfort.
When Might a Stroke Survivor Benefit from Personalised Stroke Rehabilitation?
The clinical recommendations are that anybody who has suffered a stroke should have a full assessment of their needs and a detailed care plan to safeguard their physical and emotional welfare within 72 hours of being discharged from the hospital, something we know unfortunately doesn’t always happen.
Putting the right plans in place quickly can save a huge amount of distress. This can alleviate the impacts a stroke can have on a person’s family and friends, ensure a person has immediate support to reduce the severity of their symptoms, or enable us to develop tailored rehabilitation goals that the stroke survivor can contribute to.
That last point is hugely relevant because, even after a severe stroke, a person should be as actively involved in their care planning as possible, focusing on participation and teamwork, as the ideal approach to a supported recovery, both in the near future and over the longer term.
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About Forest Healthcare
Forest Healthcare is an established care provider dedicated to consistently delivering an outstanding quality of life to the residents they serve. With a network of care centres across South-East England, Forest Healthcare specialises in catering to a wide range of care requirements, including; residential, nursing, dementia and specialist care. The organisation’s mission is to provide a family feel to the exceptional care they deliver by valuing, respecting and caring for each and every person who lives and works at Forest Healthcare.
Media Contact:
Chris Salter
(020) 7250 0156