On my first placement as a brand new baby
OT student I had the opportunity to go to the Service, Treatment, and Rehabilitation
(STAR), ward at Palmerston North public hospital. The ward I was placed on was
for people aged 65 and over; this ward catered mostly for people with hip and
knee replacements, falls and stroke rehabilitation. For this task I am going to
focus on people who have experienced a stroke.
Firstly I would like to explain what a stroke is. A
stroke (or cerebrovascular accident if you being really fancy) results from a
lack of blood flow to the brain because a blood vessel is blocked, or because of
ruptures (Atchison & Dirette, 2011) which further results in potential loss
of functioning in movement, vision, understanding and communicating. There are
two main types of strokes: ischemic and hemorragic. An ischemic stroke results
from a blockage of a cerebral vessel, this type of stroke is the most common (Radomski
& Trombly, 2008). A hemorragic stroke is caused by a rupture in the cerebral
blood vessel, which causes either bleeding in
the brain or bleeding in areas surrounding
the brain, which as a result cut of critical brain pathways, and cause internal
pressure on brain tissue (Radomski & Trombly, 2008). The following video shows a very good visual
picture of the brain and how it is affected by stroke
This video is an English advert demonstrating the
signs and symptoms of a stroke. It shows the viewer what to look for and what
to do when a person is having a stroke; this has been presented through the acronym
F. A. S. T. which stands for Face (has it drooped?), Arms (can they raise both
arms and keep them there?) Speech (can they still speak audibly?) and Time (the
quicker you get help the more of the person you save).
This next video demonstrates the affect a stroke
can have on your vision. Featured in this video is a woman called Peggy, she
has suffered from a stoke which had caused her to have left neglect visual
hemianopia. Hemianopia is the term used when half of your vision is lost. You are
able to see as Peggy is asked to draw the images, she draws only half a star,
and half a flower, this is because to her, the other half does not exist.
The
following video tells Bill’s personal experience of life after having a stroke.
Bills stroke was cause by a head injury which caused bleeding in his temple. Bill
speaks of the breakdown in his relationship with his partner, and how many of
his friends disappeared when he needed them most. Bill, after rehabilitation of
movement, eating and speech, gets fed up with people who say ‘oh I can’t do it,
I’ve had a stroke’, because as living proof, he knows they can.
The next sequence of videos shows the
progress Sarah Scott has made since first having her stroke at the age of 18. As
a result of her stroke Sarah has marked aphasia (speech problems). In the first
video (7 months post stroke) Sarah's sentences are broken and important words
are missed out, she has difficulty finding the right words to explain what she
means and she used a word pad to write down what she means when she can’t
explain through speech. In the second
video (16 months post stroke) Sarah’s speech patterns have improved dramatically,
her sentences are complete and they make sense, she does not leave out as many
words when talking and she does not use her word pad. She still has a few
problems with reading, writing and speech but she is continuously improving.
References:
Orchanain, D., P & Jamison, P. W, (2011) Cerebrovascular
accident. In Atchison, B.,
J.
& Dirette (Eds.). Conditions
in occupational therapy: Effect on occupational performance. (4th ed.) United
States of America: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Woodson, A., M (2008). Stroke. In Radomski, M., V., & Trombly
Latham, C., A.
(Eds.). Occupational therapy for physical
dysfunction (6th ed.). United States of America:
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Youtube.com (2009) Strokes:
brain damage. Retrieved 25th April 2012
Youtube.com (2009). Stroke
prevention: Act F.A.S.T. Retrieved
25th April 2012
Youtube.com (2011). A
visual neglect patient. Retrieved
25th April 2012
Youtube.com (2009). Surviving
a stroke. Retrieved 25th April
2012
Youtube.com (2010). Broca’s
aphasia - sarah scott - teenage stroke. Retrieved
25th April 2012 from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aplTvEQ6ew
&context=C4c65dc4ADvjVQa1PpcFPX8QbOdJwUXmUegS3C1c3zljrShB8l4aE=.
Youtube.com (2010). Update:
sarah scott teenage stroke, broca’s aphasia. Retrieved
Sarah, I found this blog to be of interest. I found reading through and looking at the videos of people who have experienced a stroke really fascinating and feel it has given me more of an insight in to what the two main types of strokes are and how a stroke impacts on a persons life. Do you know if there is a stroke rehabilitation unit in Dunedin?
ReplyDeleteHi Victoria, I'm glad you liked it :). From some quick research into your question I've found that the Dunedin Hospital has an Acute Stroke Unit (ASU) which provides therapeutic intervention into those patients who have had a stroke. There are also a few elderly rest homes around Dunedin who have stroke rehabilitation in their 'areas of expertise'.
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah, I find your blog to be very interesting, informative and well written. These videos are all very interesting and well chosen. I was particularly interested in the videos about Sarah Scott, and the vast improvement in her speech was remarkable. I was just wondering whether you know what kind of intervention techniques they use to improve Broca's aphasia?
ReplyDeleteHi Aimee, thank you! yes Sarah has made great improvement! I'm not entirely sure on her specific interventions but an Occupational Therapist would work collaboratively with a Speech and Language Therapist to slowly improve her articulation, through word games and writing interventions.
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