TORONTO – Spouses and family members looking after a loved one who just suffered a stroke have a reason to try to stay optimistic during the trying times: new American research suggests stroke patients’ health outcomes are influenced by their caregiver’s outlook.
Following a stroke, life changes dramatically for a family. Stroke is a leading cause of disability in North America. Half of stroke victims experience paralysis on one side of their bodies, 30 per cent can’t walk and another 19 per cent have speech problems.
It’s an incredibly challenging time for the stroke victim and their families left to pick up the pieces of their previous life.
That’s why University of Kentucky scientists say that stroke survivors and their spouse caregivers need to be treated together, “as a unit, not individually.”
After studying about 112 couples, their findings suggest that couples’ emotions are intertwined.
Changes to life post-stroke
“When the spouse has a high level of self-esteem and optimism, the patient has lower levels of depression,” said study author Dr. Misook Chung.
Yet the changes in a spouse caregiver’s outlook and its impact on the patient’s depression are often ignored, Chung said.
“Spouses often assist the survivor in their own care, while also trying to adapt to the changes in their own lives as a result of providing care,” Chung said.
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They end up quitting their jobs, taking on responsibilities to keep the house running that their spouse used to do, or they’re juggling their kids too.
As a clinical director of post acute specialty services at Lakeridge Health in Ontario, Deb Galet sees stroke patients from when they’re admitted to when they’re released following rehabilitation.
The entire process, at most, is only six weeks.
“No one expects a stroke, you can’t plan on a stroke, so there’s a lot of adjustment for the patient and for the family,” she said.
“They aren’t the same as they were before the stroke and we have to teach them and work with them, help them accept how they are now.”
At the Lakeridge Health site, stroke patients are admitted to an integrated stroke unit. That’s where they stay for their entire hospital stay – they receive their critical care and rehab with the same team of doctors.
Galet agrees with Chung’s findings and suggest that they apply to all realms of health care.
“The greater support that you have, the better the outcome will be,” she told Global News.
Intervention should be offered, researchers say
Chung says that help should be offered not only to patients but also to their spouses.
At Lakeridge’s stroke unit facility, chaplains and social workers are on hand to walk families through the process.
Post-stroke, doctors and families set up a date to sit down with the entire medical team involved – doctors, nurses, physiotherapists – to set goals and discuss expectations.
Galet also suggests that families join community groups focused on stroke survivors. In the Durham region, families can also attend lectures hearing from stroke survivors sharing their experience.
Meanwhile, Chung says her next steps include developing intervention programs and stress management strategies that’ll help destress families dealing with long-term health issues.
She presented her findings Wednesday at the American Stroke Association’s 2013 international conference.
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