Strokes?

[Dozer 13]

Just started volunteering on a stroke ward. I don't do anything practical, just keep people company. 

 

They gave me a lot of training, were absolutely brilliant, but I was wondering if any of your forumers have real-life experience -- maybe you had a stroke? Maybe you have a friend who has had one?

 

Sometimes it's as easy as having a friendly conversation, but a lot of people with stroke may have some form of aphasia and find conversation exhausting. On top of that, they may have tremor, and some also have dementia. Probably the most frequent thing I see is clearly intelligent and kind people who struggle to communicate.

 

So ... Any examples from your lives of nice ways to spend time together? Everyone is different, so the more examples I have, the more chance I can find something that will work with any particular person. Some of the things that have worked for me so far are naughts and crosses, looking at magazines, watching the world go by and just laughing. I also tell some of my life stories and hope I'm not boring them to death. Any real-world advice so I can expand my repertoire?

[Rollypolly 51]

Hi. My mum had a stroke last year. Even though we visited her twice a day I think she would have really benefited from having someone else to speak to. After a few weeks we were running out of conversation. She used to like it when the nurses popped in for a chat so I think just by talking to people about everyday things you will be helping a lot. We tried to encourage her to do simple things like colouring or drawing pictures. When she was able to walk with aid she was frustrated that there wasn't always someone their to help her

. I'm sure whatever you do it will be very much appreciated especially by their family! 😃

[Janus 28]

Dozer,
I think what you are doing is amazing-all respect to you, it is not easy and takes a lot of patience & understanding.

 

I would endorse what Rollypolly says-talking to the person helps a lot. If you are able to establish what the person`s interests are or were, it will be a help. I say this because you could then engage the person in a wider area of topics, or at least talk about those specific subjects even if the response is limited. Maybe ask their family/friends/visitors about the interests. Then, you can gather information like articles and especially photos/pictures on the interests-a picture paints a thousand words as the saying goes. In addition to enhancing the conversation, the person will see that you are genuinely interested which has a positive effect.

 

The more stimulation-the greater the neural connections being formed.

 

[joojoo 13]

6 hours ago, Dozer said:

Just started volunteering on a stroke ward. I don't do anything practical, just keep people company. 

 

They gave me a lot of training, were absolutely brilliant, but I was wondering if any of your forumers have real-life experience -- maybe you had a stroke? Maybe you have a friend who has had one?

 

Sometimes it's as easy as having a friendly conversation, but a lot of people with stroke may have some form of aphasia and find conversation exhausting. On top of that, they may have tremor, and some also have dementia. Probably the most frequent thing I see is clearly intelligent and kind people who struggle to communicate.

 

So ... Any examples from your lives of nice ways to spend time together? Everyone is different, so the more examples I have, the more chance I can find something that will work with any particular person. Some of the things that have worked for me so far are naughts and crosses, looking at magazines, watching the world go by and just laughing. I also tell some of my life stories and hope I'm not boring them to death. Any real-world advice so I can expand my repertoire?

My Mum has a stroke and was left with speech aphasia, it’s very frustrating.  I made a list of her hobbies, interests, past employments, places she had visited, names and relationships of her close family and kept it by her bed so that any visitors had clues of what to talk about.  Sadly she lost many friends because they were not able to communicate with her,

[petemcewan 27]

Dozer 

 

Respect to you.

[Lex Luthor 10]

11 hours ago, petemcewan said:

Dozer 

 

Respect to you.

Ditto

[Jomie 30]

Dozer - I am a carer for a person who has had two strokes but is not paralysed and can still converse although there is a degree of aphasia .

 

Doubtless you know this but take your time when you engage in conversation. Sometimes they know what they want to say but can’t articulate the words. Often they muddle words up so it takes time to find out what it is they are trying to get across. I find it takes a lot of patience and sometimes I have to ask questions to fill in the missing bits. Calmness is also required. I find that they tire very quickly due to the effort of remembering, thinking and talking. 

 

Sometimes it is alright just  to sit with someone and be quiet. This is very hard to do in a world that is full of activity and noise.  Sometimes it is nice to look at a nice view and just ‘be’.

 

Music can be a great stimulus and I am wondering if you could find some suitable songs and put them on a device of some sort. Small Bluetooth speakers can be found quite cheaply.  

 

There are a few good news websites that you could maybe look at for nice stories. Here are two:

Good News

Positive News

 

It’s a great thing that you are doing and I hope that you will be able to keep it up. Well done.

Edited March 11, 2019 by Jomie

[Dozer 13]

Thank you all so much. The stories are inspiring, and the advice is helpful. I'll report back.