THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Stroke is considered the leading cause of disability and it is widely prevalent in the population. Yet lack of awareness and poor resources have led to many stroke recovered patients to live with life-long disabilities. A community-level stroke intervention initiated by Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) is making changes in treatment outcome of patients.
It started with the training of health workers, including Asha workers, in Thiruvananthapuram in 2019. After imparting training to provide basic patient care to families, over 1000 health workers in 23 blocks were encouraged to visit patients’ homes regularly. With the success in Thiruvananthapuram, SCTIMST has expanded the training to Kollam.
“The visits have helped patients control risk factors and medication adherence. There were instances where Asha workers could help in identifying stroke cases and shift patients on time,” said Dr P N Sylaja, professor and head of neurology at SCTIMST.Controlling risk factors such as diabetes and hypertension in stroke patients is the most important aspect for avoiding a repeat stroke. Studies showed that stroke patients have a 10-15 per cent higher chance of a repeat stroke in the first year.
Community-level intervention is considered important as many patients suffer from life-long disabilities due to lack of proper rehabilitation after the acute stroke treatment. 70 per cent of patients seek treatment from government hospitals and lack of proper rehabilitation has affected even their ability to walk. Being able to walk is considered the first sign of recovery after a stroke. Various studies by SCTIMST showed that employment chances of stroke-recovered patients were compromised due to the disability. Many do not even seek employment due to low self-confidence. Rehabilitation is important because stroke usually happens in the 55-60 age group where people are in their most productive part of life, said Dr Sylaja.
“Rehabilitation of stroke patients has been affected due to cost and shortage of occupational therapists. Community health centres should have rehabilitation centres where patients can be brought together to provide rehabilitation with the help of families,” she added.