A resident at the care home I work suffered from a stroke a month ago. She is slowly recovering but has difficulties with balance. What exercises could she do to improve her balance? Is there anything that the other carers and I could do to make it easier for her to reach the same level of independence as before?

Hi Sally,

I am afraid this is probably a question for an occupational therapist or physiotherapist. At icommunicate we really focus on communication issues.

I would contact your community or hospital physiotherapist in the first instance, and he/she may be able to help you.

Independence is also gained by being able to communicate your needs, and if the lady has suffered communication difficulties because of her stroke, then we may be able to answer your questions.

If she is suffering from a speech or language delay caused by her stroke, this still might improve as she is only 1 month post-stroke. We would expect an improvement in cognitive and communication skills for a few more months as the brain heals.

It would be a good idea to consult a speech and language therapist / pathologist to assess her communication needs and set-up an assistive communication system if she needs it.

Regards Johan - icommunicate

Thank you Johan

The resident is now recovering fast, and her balance is somewhat restored. She still has some communication difficulties (oops forgot to mention them in my first post! )

She speaks to people, although the speech is somewhat hard to understand. She gets frustrated that she cannot be understood, and also fnds it hard to write down information fast (which she has had to do on occasion because we can't make out what she is trying to say) as a result of the stroke.

How can we help her to be able to communicate better, either through writing or through speaking?

Thanks, Sally

Hi Sally,

Well it would probably advantageous for you to see a speech and language therapist. Obviously I cannot make a diagnosis over the internet, but she may Dysarthria. A speech therapist should be able to give her some strategies to make her speech a it more intelligible.

It is good that she is writing things down (even if it is difficult) - trying to use all possible modes of communication is an important strategy.

You can find some articles on both Dysarthria and ideas to improve reading and writing in the Stroke section of our Downloads Centre.

Hope that helps.

Johan