Do you know the warning signs that someone is in the early stages of a stroke? If you care for an older loved one, it’s important that you do. Stroke is one of the leading causes of disability in seniors, but early treatment of a stroke can sometimes prevent this from happening.
Some of the more common warning signs of stroke include sudden numbness in the face or in arms or legs, especially if it happens on just one side of the body. Other signs include sudden confusion, difficulty speaking, or slurring of words, sudden trouble seeing out of one or both eyes, headache, nausea, or sudden trouble with walking, coordination, or unexplained loss of balance. By themselves, some of these things don’t seem like a big deal (such as headaches), so looking at the situation as a whole is important. This is where thorough training can be helpful.
If you think that a loved one is having a stroke, it’s important to act fast. Calling 911 is essential, especially if your region has a mobile stroke response team. The sooner a stroke is treated, the better the long term prognosis for the person suffering becomes. This is true both for family caregivers and professionals.
The sooner a stroke is treated, the better the odds of the individual when it comes to a full recovery.
Not everyone that’s in the care business has been trained to recognize and respond to a suspected stroke. This is not the same as a medical response, either. A nurse or an emergency medical technician both have been trained to adequately respond and help initiate treatment and response. Non-medical caregivers don’t have the proper background or training to respond in such a manner.
But this doesn’t mean that a caregiver cannot help out in such a situation. Many caregivers are trained to recognize the early symptoms of a stroke and what to do to help provide that individual with the best outcome possible. Research shows that a majority of strokes can be overcome or well-managed if treatment begins within two hours of the onset of symptoms. Being able to recognize symptoms early can help to ensure that this happens.
This is one of the reasons why we provide the people that we employ with extensive training before they ever go out into someone’s house to help out. We want to do our best to make sure that the people that we serve have the very best people on their side. No one wants there to be an issue or an emergency, but if there is, we want to help to alleviate it as much as possible. We provide our caregivers with extensive training, we insure them fully, and we provide training refreshers on a regular basis. It’s our way of making sure that the families we work with know that their team is fighting for them.
We’d love to be part of your team. Give us a call to learn more about what we do and how it might fit in with your family’s situation. In-home care isn’t right for everyone. But if it’s right for you and you’re in our service area, we would be honored to help.
Leave a Reply