Comment - Sea-change in attitudes

When I was a child my grandmother had a stroke, paralysing her right side. Previously an active woman in the local community, she moved in to live with us for the three years before she died from a heart attack.

Our dining room became her bedroom, her commode was in the corner. She would sit in an armchair most of the day, reading or watching the birds in the garden.

Despite all the love and support we gave her, it was not, she told my mum, much of a life.

So it’s good to read in our feature on page 24 that approaches have changed.

That, when one young man who had a stroke wanted to put on a wet suit and go surfing, physios found a way of working with his dream.

With Stroke Awareness Month coming up in May, let’s remember that ‘physio works’ in many ways. And one way may be to reframe our thinking in order to help patients achieve their goals.

Author

Lynn Eaton managing editor Frontline and head of CSP member communications