When someone has a stroke, recovery can be quite difficult for them. It is through the help of friends, family and paid caregivers that stroke recovery has the most success. Taking care of a recovering stroke patient is not the same as taking care of someone after a heart attack or some sort of surgery. Many times patients that suffer from strokes suffer from more than physical issues; they often suffer from memory loss and speech impediments that they may never recover from. This is an emotional and scary place to be in and it is important that you be sensitive to that during the caring process.
The first thing that you need to do is to ensure that they get the proper care. Most stroke patients are going to require physical therapy, and speech therapy. In some cases occupational therapy is going to be necessary as well if the person who has had the stroke is unable to perform tasks that they were able to do before. Keeping all of the necessary appointments and also keeping progress charts will help you to stay active in their Stroke Recovery.
You also need to take into account the physical abilities of the stroke victim. When they return home they probably aren't going to be mobile; so the house needs to be set up for their comfort. Wheelchair bound patients, for example, need additional space to get around the house. In addition, door handles need to be the lever type to enable ease of entry and exit in any room.
Either ensure that all of the light switches in the room are at chest height when sitting down or switch to remote controlled lights (not the clapper, they may not have the strength yet).
Another thing to consider is making it easy for them to be comfortable in their own home. A lift chair is an excellent resource for someone in stroke recovery. Lift chairs allow moving into a chair and getting up from a chair to be easy for someone with limited mobility.
Another thing is to keep the house the way it is. Once things have been cleared out in such a way to make mobility easy, don't start rearranging things, especially if there are memory issues. Having continuity is very important.
Someone in stroke recovery needs to feel like they are accomplishing goals, not just in therapy, but in their personal life as well. Make things accessible and let them do as much as they can for themselves. Feeling good about their progress actually encourages more progress, so keep that in mind.
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