Hi Kathy
Thanks for reaching out on EnableMe, I am sorry to hear of your brother’s stroke a year ago. It sounds like you are still supporting him in his recovery which is great to hear.
There are aways things that can be done for someone who has experienced a stroke, even a year after their stroke. Given he is currently in a nursing home, he can still access therapy through a home visiting service. A burst of therapy can be helpful especially if he is looking at some goals like his communication and perhaps some movement.
You can speak with the facility’s Gp about a chronic conditions care plan to see a private Physiotherapist, Occupational therapist or Speech therapist. The chronic conditions care plan can provide 5 sessions of therapy at a Medicare rebated rate over a 12 month period. This is not much, but can provide access to therapy to look at identifying some goals and talk with them about what you can be doing with him when you visit. If your brother has private health insurance, you and he might also like to be in contact with them to determine if he can access any extra’s and look at accessing Physiotherapy, Occupational therapy and Speech Therapy this way. There are also private home visiting services available that he could access if able to pay privately for them.
I would also recommend that you and he talk with the onsite therapists there to see if they can support your brother in any way. They will often focus on urgent issues such as pressure care or swallowing, but he may be able ot participate in activities where he can practice his speech, or interact with others.
You might also like to talk to the therapists about what you can be doing with your brother when you visit, to help with repetition and focus on the areas affected by his stroke. This might include things like playing word games or boggle or scrabble if he has communication difficulties. It might include massage or prompting him to use his affected hand if his hand or arm is affected. This is always something I would recommend speaking with a therapist before trying any of these with your brother.
In regard to his speech, in addition to plain games like boggle or scrabble, On our website, we have a number of resources and information around communication, including this page on speech and language here. There are also blogs by speech pathologists on EnableMe about practical ways to support a loved one. There is also a blog on tips for Self-Directed Speech Therapy here, which also contains some suggestions from the stroke community
It is also always helpful to just let hm know you are there and are available to him. Hope is a very powerful feeling, and to know that family is there to support and help can be very motivating.
We would be more than happy to talk with you Kathy in more detail about ways to help your brother, so do give us a call on Ph 1800 787 653, or email us on strokeline@strokefoundation.org.au. We are available Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm AEST and would be more than happy to talk with you.
Kind regards
Siobhan (StrokeLine)
