Rehabilitation After Stroke

Some people do not need rehabilitation after a stroke because the stroke was mild or they have fully recovered. Others may be too disabled to participate. However, many patients can be helped by rehabilitation. Hospital staff will help the patient and family decide about rehabilitation and choose the right services or program.

There are several kinds of rehabilitation programs:

Home Instead Senior Care can provide supplemental CAREGiver services that help stroke patients recover quickly. Our CAREGivers can assist patients in the following programs located in Mississauga ON. We can be reached at 905- 276-2273.

Hospital programs – These programs can be provided by special rehabilitation hospitals or by rehabilitation units in acute care hospitals. Complete rehabilitation services are available. The patient stays in the hospital during rehabilitation. An organized team of specially trained professionals provides the therapy. Hospital programs are usually more intense than other programs and require more effort from the patient.

Nursing facility (nursing home) programs – As in hospital programs, the person stays at the facility during rehabilitation. Nursing facility programs are very different from each other, so it is important to get specific information about each one. Some provide a complete range of rehabilitation services; others provide only limited services.

Outpatient programs – Allow a patient who lives at home to get a full range of services by visiting a hospital outpatient department, outpatient rehabilitation facility, or day hospital program.

Home-based programs – The patient can live at home and receive rehabilitation services from visiting professionals. An important advantage of home programs is that patients learn skills in the same place where they will use them.

Learn more about Choosing Best Stroke Program.

***If you are seeking home care services for loved ones who have had a slight stroke call 905- 276-2273.

Get Your Free Stroke Information Guide.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Please call 905- 276-2273.

A stroke is a type of brain injury. Symptoms depend on the part of the brain that is affected. People who survive a stroke often have weakness on one side of the body or trouble with moving, talking, or thinking.

Most strokes are ischemic (is-KEE-mic) strokes. These are caused by reduced blood flow to the brain when blood vessels are blocked by a clot or become too narrow for blood to get through. Brain cells in the area die from lack of oxygen. In another type of stroke, called hemorrhagic (hem-or-AJ-ic) stroke, the blood vessel isn’t blocked; it bursts, and blood leaks into the brain, causing damage.

Strokes are more common in older people. Almost three-fourths of all strokes occur in people 65 years of age or over. However, a person of any age can have a stroke.

Recovering From Stroke

The process of recovering from a stroke usually includes treatment, spontaneous recovery, rehabilitation, and the return to community living. Because stroke survivors often have complex rehabilitation needs, progress and recovery are different for each person.

Treatment for stroke begins in a hospital with “acute care.” This first step includes helping the patient survive, preventing another stroke, and taking care of any other medical problems.

Spontaneous recovery happens naturally to most people. Soon after the stroke, some
abilities that have been lost usually start to come back. This process is quickest during the first few weeks, but it sometimes continues for a long time.

Rehabilitation is another part of treatment. It helps the person keep abilities and gain back lost abilities to become more independent. It usually begins while the patient is still in acute care. For many patients, it continues afterward, either as a formal rehabilitation program or as individual rehabilitation services. Many decisions about rehabilitation are made by the patient,
family, and hospital staff before discharge from acute care.

The last stage in stroke recovery begins with the person’s return to community living after acute care or rehabilitation. This stage can last for a lifetime as the stroke survivor and family learn to live with the effects of the stroke. This may include doing common tasks in new ways or making up for damage to or limits of one part of the body by greater activity of another.

Read more on Strokes: How Stroke Affects People

Get a Free Copy of Recovering After a Stroke: A Patient and Family Guide – courtesy of The StrokeCenter.org.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Please call 905- 276-2273.

Every family has a story. Gathering together to share and preserve that story helps to keep the memories alive, especially for families touched by Alzheimer’s disease. Tell us your story for a chance to win a family reunion!

Submit a story in either written or video format about your experience with a family member living with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. Essays and videos need to:

• Share how Alzheimer’s has impacted your life
• Talk about the role that memories and remembering have played in your family, especially with regard to your family member who now has or had Alzheimer’s
• Share with us specific stories or examples of how you and your family members cope or coped with challenges of Alzheimer’s disease
• Tell us why you deserve to win this family reunion

While not required, feel free to also submit a photograph along with your written essay or include it in your video as demonstrated in the sample entry below. So, Enter Now!

Criteria for judging include the overall level of engagement with your entry from family and friends and how compelling of a story you tell. Written essays and video submissions will receive equal consideration. All entries must be submitted by January 31, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. EDT in order to qualify for the family reunion giveaway.

See contest terms and conditions for complete entry details.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

Your Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga possess a heartfelt desire to work with seniors in the Mississauga area including Streetsville, Clarkson, Port Credit & Applewood. It’s the reason why they were chosen to serve seniors and their families.

Award-Winning Program

The American Society on Aging has recognized Home Instead, Inc. as the Small Business of the Year for it’s exclusive CAREGiver training program designed by the world-renowned experts of The George G. Glenner Alzheimer’s Family Center. This program and other professionally developed and recognized Alzheimer’s care training programs provide CAREGivers with the latest in Alzheimer’s education and dementia care techniques, so you can be assured your loved one is with a trusted professional.

Home Instead Senior Care® has partnered with the Alzheimer’s Association. The Alzheimer’s Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer care, support and research. Their mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health.

Alzheimer’s disease is fast becoming one of the greatest medical challenges facing Americans today. The Alzheimer’s Association Early Detection Alliance (AEDA) spread’s awareness of Alzheimer’s disease. Their goal is to educate everyone about the warning signs of Alzheimer’s, the importance of early detection, and the resources available to help them.

If you’d like more information about our Alzheimer’s program, please call us at 905-276-2273. You may also wish to visit the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada at www.alzheimer.ca or log onto the Alzheimer’s Foundation for Caregiving in Canada website at www.alzfdn.ca/ for additional information and resources

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

The services provided through the Mississauga Home Instead Senior Care office and our award-winning Alzheimer’s Care program, are an invaluable solution to help your loved one cope with the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia.

Although Alzheimer’s disease currently has no known deterrent or cure, specific methods of care can help manage the symptoms of dementia. For example, maintaining routines and simplifying tasks may reduce fear and confusion. WebMD also suggests that a caregiver adapt activities and a routine to allow the person with Alzheimer’s to participate as much as possible.

As the stages of dementia progress, the person affected will require increasing amounts of care. In the early stages, according to Caring.com, people with Alzheimer’s typically have both “good” days when you don’t notice unusual behavior, and “bad” days when they forget they have a pie in the oven, or call you in a panic because they have been driving around for an hour unable to find the local grocery store. It’s important to watch out for “bad day” situations like these as they will only become more frequent and dangerous, clearly indicating a need for more supervision. Web MD suggests you should take steps to remove things that could endanger your loved one, such as hiding the car keys and matches. In advanced stages, people with Alzheimer’s may begin to wander, or they may become hostile and violent at times, posing a danger to themselves and others. A caregiver can create a safer environment and help minimize their source of frustration to reduce wandering or hostile behavior.

Visit our Alzheimer’s and dementia resource center for additional insight on caring for individuals suffering from this disease.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

Close to six million individuals in Canada and the United States alone have Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia — a number that is expected to reach nearly 20 million in the next five decades. To some these are just statistics, but to us, they represent millions of families with loved ones who require special senior care, both at home and in assisted living facilities.

It’s one of the most devastating illnesses of our time to impact seniors and their loved ones. Alzheimer’s disease can rob older adults of their pasts and futures. But help and hope are available for seniors suffering from Alzheimer’s disease as well as their family caregivers.

Here are other recommendations from the Alzheimer’s Association:

• Stay mentally healthy, since mentally stimulating activities strengthen brain cells and the connections between them, and may even create new nerve cells.
• Stay physically active, as physical exercise is essential for maintaining good blood flow to the brain. It also can significantly reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and diabetes, and thereby help to protect against those risk factors for Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

Studies show the best place for a person with memory loss is in familiar surroundings. Our approach of encouragement and assistance helps family members cope with the challenges of dementia. Since 1994, families like yours have trusted Home Instead Senior Care to provide one-on-one Alzheimer’s care and dementia care for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The services provided by Home Instead Senior Care are a valuable, trusted solution to help your loved one maintain a regular routine, thus enhancing his or her quality of life.

If you’d like more information about our Alzheimer’s program, please call us – 905- 276-2273.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

Dementia is one of the biggest fears that older adults face. It’s one of the most devastating illnesses of our time to impact seniors and their loved ones. The disease will take away the pasts and futures for older adults. But help and hope are available for them living with Alzheimer’s disease as well as their family caregivers.

Here’s some research-based do’s and don’ts from the Alzheimer’s Association that can help put your minds at ease:

Stay mentally healthy, since mentally stimulating activities strengthen brain cells and the connections between them, and may even create new nerve cells.

Stay physically active, as physical exercise is essential for maintaining good blood flow to the brain. It also can significantly reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and diabetes, and thereby help to protect against those risk factors for Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

Know that the seniors and older adults who lead sedentary lifestyles and consume a lot of sodium in their diet may be damaging their mental health. A study from Canada has found evidence that high-salt diets coupled with low physical activity can be detrimental to cognitive health in older adults. While low sodium intake is associated with reduced blood pressure and risk of heart disease, this is believed to be the first study to extend the benefits of a low sodium diet to brain health in healthy older adults.

Elsewhere, evidence from a recent study of seniors indicates that consuming fish oil supplements has a positive impact on brain health and aging. The study included 819 individuals, 117 of whom reported regular use of fish oil supplements before entry and during study follow-up. It’s important to stay active and eat healthy and nutrition foods. If you need help with caring for a loved one living with Alzheimer’s, Home Instead CAREGivers are here for you.

Source: Home Instead Senior Care.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.

If you have a loved one living with Alzheimer’s disease, then you know how it affects every part of his or her life. It will, if not already, significantly impact your life too.

You’ve seen Alzheimer’s effects on other lives living with the illness and know that the disease respects no boundaries. From a former President to the average citizen in our hometown, Alzheimer’s can strike anyone, anywhere.

Today, half a million Canadians have Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. Approximately 71,000 of them are under age 65. This means that 1 in 11 Canadians over the age of 65 currently has Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. Statistic from Alzheimer.ca. Alzheimer’s disease primarily affects seniors. And, because our elderly population is exploding, the number of people with the disease is expected to grow at an alarming rate.

In twenty-five years, about 1.3 million Canadians will be living with Alzheimer’s. The quick rise of the disease is due to the baby boomer generation; one in three Canadians will be affected by Alzheimer’s.

I’m Greg Bechard with Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga, a company that provides CAREGivers who go into seniors’ homes to help them with their non-medical tasks such as cooking, cleaning, shopping, errands – or just providing companionship.

Even more important are the supervision and security that CAREGivers can offer to those with Alzheimer’s and other dementia’s. The mission of our local office is to help seniors remain safely and comfortably in their homes. And, thanks to a special partnership Home Instead Senior Care has with a renowned Alzheimer’s organization, the company is also helping those with the disease stay home longer than ever before.

My company, Home Instead Senior Care has teamed up with The George G. Glenner Alzheimer’s Family Centers in San Diego, CA. The late Dr. Glenner was a world-famous pathologist, research physician and professor at the University of San Diego School of Medicine. In 1984, he isolated and first identified the beta amyloid protein now considered the primary cause of Alzheimer’s disease to develop the first training program of its kind for non-medical caregivers. The training covers these topics:

• The pathology and symptoms of the disease;

• Understanding other diseases similar to Alzheimer’s;

• Building a relationship with a client who has Alzheimer’s;

• Working within the person’s physical surroundings;

• Managing his or her difficult behaviors; and,

• Helping the client remain independent for as long as possible.

The best part of the Home Instead Senior Care Alzheimer’s CAREGiver training program is that we learn how to build solid relationships with our clients – relationships that allow them to adapt their care to meet individual client needs.

And, by helping those who are dealing with this disease, Home Instead Senior Care Mississauga serves as a resource and respite provider for family members and friends. So, along with helping Alzheimer’s clients live fuller lives, Home Instead Senior Care is also helping these family members enjoy their loved ones more fully.

Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.