Is there a stroke unit that can help my Mum.

Hello Skye

Thank you for reaching out on EnableMe. I am sorry to hear what has been happening for your mother.  It sounds like it has been a tough month for you both.

There are inpatient rehabilitation units that provide rehabilitation post stroke, but if your mother in rehab currently and they are saying she needs to move to residential care, have they discussed the reasons for this recommendation?  In some cases, the team may have made a decision based on their clinical judgement, that your mother will not benefit from any additional rehabilitation. This can be difficult to understand, so I would recommend asking for a family meeting to talk to the current team about their decision.

It can be challenging to find additional rehabilitation if the current treating team have recommended your mother going into residential care. A referral from the current treating team will be required for any future rehabilitation.

You or your family can request afamily meetingwith the treating team at any time. This is a way of keeping up to date with progress and making decisions about treatment, goals and future discharge planning. This can also be an opportunity to ask questions that you and your mother feel have not been answered.  You may also wish to speak with a patient liaison officer to discuss options for seeking a second opinion from a specialist, as these would usually be provided by a different health professional affiliated with the hospital network. Please voice your concerns if have any during this process. 

When you meet with the rehab team, it helps to prepare a list of questions you'd like to ask, and to take notes. You can also share the load by bringing along a friend or family member.  Some questions to consider for the family meeting could include:  

• What progress has been made from each allied health team member’s perspective since admission

• What are the current goals for your mother? Eg: Being able to retain information to complete personal care tasks independently. To be able to remember her name and address so she can safely get home if outside the house, be safely able to make a cup of tea/coffee and remember the sequencing for this task.   

• Share any gains that you have seen your mother achieve during her inpatient stay

• Ask the reasons for the recommendation of residential aged care and not ongoing rehabilitation

Make sure you get clear information from the treating team regarding their decision, the rationale behind their decision, and who can provide you and your mother support for the next steps.

You are welcome to give StrokeLine a call to talk through what is happening for your mother. You can call StrokeLine on ph. 1800 787 653, or email us on strokeline@strokefoundation.org.au.  We are open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm AEDT.

This is a really challenging time, so do reach out for help.

Kind regards

Siobhan

Stroke units do there best if there is a chance of improvement , she would have been thourly tested and some time they can't do nothing , as they say may be she will improve with time and sometimes you don't like me , it's just the ;uck of the draw . Sorry but only time will tell , but remember she is still your mum..