STROKE survivors experiencing isolation will have access to a new support service, with the opening of the Bendigo Stroke Support Centre.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The centre is just the third of its kind in Australia, focussing on community inclusion, teaching independent living skills and sharing recovery techniques.
The Stroke Association of Victoria will officially launch the initiative on Friday, but it has run services at the California Gully site since the start of the year.
After their stroke, survivors go to hospital, rehabilitation, and then home. At this point formal services often end, leaving them without support.
Read more: $60 million for new rehabilitation unit
Through community connection the support centre aims to give survivors continuing care, as their recovery continues.
All age groups and those at any stage of recovery are welcome at the service.
People are in hospital when they immediately have the stroke, then they're taken to rehab ... where they start to learn some basic skills of daily living, but then they're just sent home to work out the rest of their life.
- Maria Saggio
Peer support groups are the foundation of the centre's programs, while it offers chair yoga and technology sessions.
Coordinator Tamara Lalor said the support centre was a place where people could meet other survivors and relearn skills.
One support group operates, but Mrs Lalor hopes to set up more as services expanded. It might also begin to offer information sessions on topics relevant to stroke survivors, such as regaining a driving licence.
Read more: A stroke sparks nursing dream
Stroke survivor Maria Saggio has attended support centre programs for several months.
Having a stroke 10 years ago completely changed her life. It's only now that she became ready to seek out support such as that which the centre offers.
She attends chair yoga and a fortnightly gathering.
Ms Saggio said that if you survived a stroke, people could assume everything was okay. But it was just not like that. You might have to resign, maybe stop driving, and possibly move, while people tended to keep away, she said.
Often it was only other stroke survivors who fully understood the experience.
"There are a million challenges. Your whole life is just completely turned upside down, so everything's a challenge," Ms Saggio said.
"Even starting from the very basic day to day, just being able to move around and look after yourself and dress yourself and walk again, to just getting a bit of your life together to finding out how much you can care for yourself, what sort of assistance you're going to need."
"People are in hospital when they immediately have the stroke, then they're taken to rehab ... where they start to learn some basic skills of daily living, but then they're just sent home to work out the rest of their life."
Ms Saggio said it was wonderful to meet people who have gone through an experience like her own.
"I've actually found that the only people who do understand are the people coming here," she said.
"It's the emotional support and having a place to actually go to and connect with others, that's really important, because if that wasn't there you'd be just isolated at home. And that's not a very good life."
Mrs Lalor said it took people a different amount of time to get to the point where they wanted to connect with a service like Bendigo's centre.
Part of her job is maintaining a connection with those who have been referred to the centre, so they did not disappear into isolation after leaving hospital.
She said the service was open to all stroke survivors, regardless of age or stage, but attendees did have to find their own transport.
Stroke Association of Victoria chief executive James Garland said stroke support centres addressed a "massive" need in Australia.
The centres provided ongoing care for stroke survivors, who were often without support after they left rehabilitation, Mr Garland said.
Read more: Mental support lacking in stroke recovery
"The problem is you don't recover from a stroke within six to eight weeks, you recover from a stroke within six to eight years, or maybe longer," he said.
The problem is you don't recover from a stroke within six to eight weeks, you recover from a stroke within six to eight years, or maybe longer.
- James Garland, Stroke Association of Victoria chief executive
"A lot of people with a stroke when they leave our fantastic hospital system, they go home and there's no support. Many people go home, they become isolated. They lose their jobs, they lose their self esteem, they lose their sense of community.
"These centres really provide people with a continuum of care. They can go from the hospital now, to rehab and now to a centre like this."
Mr Garland said the service addressed a "sleeping giant" which was a huge community issue.
About 475,000 Australians were living with the effects of a stroke in 2017. By 2050, it is expected to be one million.
The stroke support centres were a way to make a huge difference to survivors' lives, at a low cost, Mr Garland said.
Stroke survivors could begin non-clinical forms of recovery through the service, such as relearning skills, peer support, or even yoga, he said.
Mr Garland said he hopes the success of the first few stroke centres would mean the initiative is expanded throughout the state.
"Stroke's one of the biggest causes of long term disease, or what we would call chronic disease in Australia," he said.
"Not many people talk about stroke as they would other serious diseases like cancer and so forth."
More information at: strokeassociation.com.au/
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.