stroke, what are your options?
According to Bex Townley,
exercise specialist at Later Life
Training, the first step is
assessing – in discussion with
the client – what role you are
going to play.
‘It is important to be specific
about whether we are promoting
physical activity or structured
exercise,’ Townley explained,
‘both have a place.
‘Being physically active is
beneficial for any individual, and
could be considered even more
important if mobility, fitness,
strength and balance are in
decline.
‘Meanwhile, undertaking
structured exercise requires
interpretation of guidance
informed by evidence. Important
to this is incoming information
from an appropriate referral
agent, in this case a
‘
Something is
better than
nothing, but
when it comes
to working
with stroke
survivors a
generic
session or
cardiac rehab
session isn’t
enough to
meet their
needs.
neuro-physiotherapist.
‘Though there may be many
instances where a referral is not
deemed necessary, trainers
must understand and be honest
about when their skill sets don’t
meet the requirements and
needs of the individual.
Signposting back to a medical
setting would then be the
responsible thing to do.’
In other words, get the best
idea possible from the client’s
physiotherapist about what the
rehab programme has involved,
what exercise the client should
focus on and what exercises to
avoid or approach with caution.
‘No one stroke is the same,
the spectrum of severity and
impact on physical and cognitive
function can be significant and
even the mildest stroke can be
life changing.
‘Stroke survivors can present
@REPsUK
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