Family Members Can Offer Help After This Devastating Diagnosis, Including Home Health Care Services
Those who experience a stroke will be faced with many challenges as they recover. Although the symptoms that appear after a stroke are different for everyone, one area that all patients struggle with is how to cope emotionally.
You may have noticed that your loved one has struggled with their feelings after their stroke. It can be hard to see your loved one feel hopeless, lost, and panicked.
However, help is available to support your loved one. There are always resources and actions you can take, so you can go on this healthcare journey together, through the ups and downs.
How Does Stroke Affect Emotion?
The more you know about what happens emotionally to people after a stroke will help you understand why your loved one may be having certain feelings and experiences and allow you to support your loved one from a place of empathy.
According to the American Stroke Association, your loved one may experience these emotional challenges after a stroke:
- Depression
- Grief
- Anxiety and panic attacks
- Low self-esteem
- Personality changes
- Mood changes
- Intimacy challenges
- Emotional outbursts
These feelings can be normal reactions after a stroke. Depression, for example, affects up to 20% to 40% of stroke patients. In some cases, cognitive changes can alter your loved one’s personality. For others, challenging emotions come from having to face common symptoms like the inability to speak clearly, changes to vision, muscle weakness, and headaches.
Think of emotional suffering as a symptom of your loved one’s condition, and don’t take their behavior personally when they seem irritable or angry at you. Instead, remember this is merely a symptom, and you can show your love, care, and encouragement to help them.
- Patience: The emotional challenges your loved one is going through are a part of their illness, just like the physical symptoms they are experiencing. Be patient with them as they work toward healing.
- Non-judgment: You can encourage your loved one to think positively and get motivated to engage with treatments, so they can improve. However, they won’t always feel that way, so avoid judgment when they feel down or hopeless.
- Empathy: Consider what it would be like to be in their shoes. Empathy is a powerful tool that shows a person that you want to understand how they feel.
- Respect: Give your loved one their space to grieve, feel anger, and more. These emotions should be allowed to come out.
- Hope: Medical researchers have learned that several symptoms of strokes can improve over time. Your loved one may need you to help them look toward a future goal, even when they don’t feel able to.
How to Encourage Your Loved One During Stroke Recovery
The physical, mental, and emotional journey toward rehabilitation and recovery after a stroke takes time. Depending on their symptoms, your loved one’s doctor may recommend any of these treatments or services:
- Surgeries or procedures to help prevent future strokes
- Physical, speech, or occupational therapy
- New medications, such as blood thinners
- Cognitive or psychological therapy
- Diet or lifestyle changes
- Support groups
- Home health care
Each of these recommendations requires a great deal of effort from your loved one. After a stroke, the sudden change of dedicating their time and energy to rehabilitation can be a shock, especially when it involves entirely new routines and the loss of the way things were before.
You can be a source of encouragement as your loved one goes through this process, simply by being present. Accompany them to the gym, be a cheerleader for their progress, and help them perform exercises at home; help them make a heart-healthy, low-sodium grocery shopping list or set goals for lifestyle changes, such as quitting smoking.
Consider these supportive phrases as your loved one heals:
- “Just take it a day at a time, one step at a time. Every day is progress.”
- “Your stroke doesn’t define who you are.”
- “Progress, not perfection. It’s okay to have setbacks, and I love you.”
- “What do you need right now? I’m here to listen.”
- “What can I do to help you feel comfortable today?”
- “Just know that I’m here through the good and the bad.”
- “I admire how strong, brave, and resilient you are.”
Home Health Care For Healing and Empowerment
Many people who suffer strokes qualify for home health care services after their hospitalization.
Your loved one’s doctor can order home health care if their condition requires skilled health care services (such as nursing or physical, occupational, or speech therapy) and they’re home bound, meaning they can’t leave the home without assistance. Assistance can include help from another person or a mobility device.
A home health care provider’s mission is to expertly observe and assess your loved one’s condition and recommend skilled care that will help with the rehabilitation and recovery process. Senior home health care teams educate the patient and empower them to take responsibility for their treatments and therapies in between visits and after services end.
Home health care teams are encouraging, warm, and motivating, and you can follow their lead. When your loved one has scheduled visits from home health care services, you can be there for support by taking notes and showing that you care about your loved one’s journey.
You Are a Powerful Force For Care and Love
Your loved one’s experience after a stroke could be life-altering. Physical changes, emotional difficulties, and a disruption of the world they knew before their stroke is a lot for one person to handle.
Showing up and weathering the storm with your loved one with understanding, grace, and encouragement can significantly benefit their recovery.
The support of family and friends can truly affect someone’s health outcomes. When you pair family caregiving with support from a senior home health care provider, your loved one will receive even more necessary encouragement and care.