TORONTO – Spouses and family members looking after a loved one who just suffered a stroke have a reason to try to stay optimistic during the trying times: new American research suggests stroke patients’ health outcomes are influenced by their caregiver’s outlook.
Following a stroke, life changes dramatically for a family. Stroke is a leading cause of disability in North America. Half of stroke victims experience paralysis on one side of their bodies, 30 per cent can’t walk and another 19 per cent have speech problems.
It’s an incredibly challenging time for the stroke victim and their families left to pick up the pieces of their previous life.
That’s why University of Kentucky scientists say that stroke survivors and their spouse caregivers need to be treated together, “as a unit, not individually.”