Author: Egbewole Oluwatobi

Caregivers provide essential long-term support for stroke survivors’ recovery and rehabilitation. They face the challenge of balancing caregiving with personal time, family, work, and other commitments.  They are spouses, parents, siblings, partners, adult children, grandchildren, and family friends. 

The year has started in top gear, and it could be overwhelming to face caring for a person with a stroke. Bother not, because we are here to give tips to help you sail through this a lot easier.  

Follow recommended health instructions

Tip number one advises following health instructions given at the clinic, such as the type of food to give, when and what medications to give, and ensuring the persons living with stroke attend their clinic sessions regularly. And in the case of individuals whose stroke presents with dysphagia(inability to swallow) and are on an NG tube, it’s important to follow the exact process and encourage the cared to follow the regimen of home programmes. This helps to ensure safety while at home, helps improve the quality of life of these persons while they go through rehabilitation and further prevents the occurrence of a repeat stroke. 

Take care of yourself

“Caregiving often calls us to lean into love we didn’t know possible,” as once said by Tia Walker. It could become so true that you forget your health while caring for a loved one with a stroke. It’s important to remember that if you would always remain present for them, you need to be healthy yourself by eating healthy and having regular checkups even as you check their health. Once in a while, take a break, and make sure you get someone who can cover up effectively while you are on break. 

Ensure home safety

Safety is ensured by avoiding litter and clutters in the house, water spills should be immediately mopped, and using non-slip mats and rugs on slippery surfaces. This will help prevent stroke survivors from bumping into things or missing their steps which could lead to a fall due to poor balance or inability to break a fall because of the weakness on one side of the body. 

Reduce the burden of care

The reduced functional mobility in individuals with stroke might lead to carrying them from time to time or being dependent on caregivers. This could be burdensome and might lead to you coming down with back pain. To help reduce this, assistive devices such as wheelchairs and commodes are recommended to make this less burdensome. Some of these devices can be improvised locally; you could speak to an occupational therapist near you. 

Use proper transfer techniques

For individuals who are still totally or maximally dependent, there will be a lot of moving from one place to the other. In doing this, some precautions have to be taken further to prevent damage to the weak muscles and joints because a worsened case would impact you as the caregiver negatively. After all, you wouldn’t want to lose a loved one to carelessness. Some precautions are avoided, such as pulling them to sit, rather, support by the shoulder and the knees.  

We hope that you have enjoyed the ride up until this point and trust that you put some of these tips to use. Till we catch you in the next article, please stay healthy.