Slowed progress

Hi Pip101,

I am sorry to hear about your grandfather’s stroke and the challenges he is having with anxiety, depression and recovery. It must be very distressing for you all.

It is good to hear that he is on depression and anxiety medication, though these may take a while to have an effect. Do you know if they were prescribed by a treating GP? If they were, you could ask the GP if it’s worth liaising with a psychiatrist, who specialises in anxiety, depression and medication for these conditions. They should be able to link your grandfather to one. We cannot provide a specific recommendation as everyone looks for different things in their specialists, your grandfather’s GP will be aware of those in the local area that might be appropriate.

It sounds like it is best to first tackle his anxiety and depression as this has a huge impact on his ability to participate in therapies. Once his mood is more stable, his memory issues can be more easily addressed. Depending on how bad your grandfather’s memory loss is, there are often strategies that physiotherapists can use to get better outcomes for people with memory loss. This can include doing the exercises together so he can follow, rather than rely on his memory and guiding his body through the exercises with hands on approaches. During this time, there may be reduced capacity to provide hands on therapy, but it could be helpful in future. Other things to consider are whether he had poor memory before the stroke? Or only since having the stroke. If his memory loss started post the stroke, you may find some more resources through ABIOS resources for families and support workers on behaviour management. If his memory loss is related to dementia a good resource would be Dementia Australia.

If you have any further questions or want to discuss further, please don’t hesitate to contact us on StrokeLine 1800 787 653 or email strokeline@strokefoundation.org.au

Warm regards

Kath, StrokeLine