Stroke care in Eastbourne

A stroke occurs when the blood supply to your brain is cut off. Your brain needs oxygen which is carried there in your blood flow, in the same way as all of your other organs. When the flow of blood stops, oxygen and nutrients can no longer reach the brain which means the cells in your brain begin to die.

The majority of strokes are caused by a blood clot, which prevents the blood flow, but a weakened blood vessel can also be a cause. Conditions such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and atrial fibrillation increase the risk of suffering a stroke.

There are different types of strokes which can affect different parts of the brain, so your symptoms could differ depending on the location, type of stroke and how long it is before you receive any treatment.

A stroke is a medical emergency, which relies on medical intervention as soon as possible to limit the damage caused.

Depending on the severity of your stoke you might be needing help with a variety of different things, but your carer can support you to do these things for yourself, or do them for you if they are still too much.

Following a stroke you could need support with:

• Verbal exercises
• Physiotherapy
• Household chores
• Personal care
• Mobilising
• Feeding and meal prep
• Medication

Everyone’s needs are different, and we understand that. That’s why each of our packages of care are tailored around the effects of your stroke and your exact care requirements.

Sue and the team at Eastbourne can provide calls for as little as 30 minutes, entire day sits and overnight support too. Each package of visiting care is tailored to your exact needs. It might be that you are struggling to do the every-day tasks that you were previously managing with no problems like the housework, laundry, making the bed or cooking meals.

Your care plan will be bespoke to you, to ensure you receive the exact level of care and support that you need to help you following a stroke. Different to an agency, all of our carers are employed by us directly, which means your get continuity of carer whether you have one visit a fortnight or four calls a day.

If your needs are higher level, or you feel that you need more continual support following a stroke live-in care provides a great alternative to residential care, while still ensuring you get the specific care that you need.

Your live-in carer will be matched to you based on their experience in stroke care but also things like their interests and personality to ensure that you are compatible people. Live-in care in particular is a great alternative to residential care, and means that your needs can be met in the comfort of your own home.

Live-in care can be a good option if:

• You need continual support
• Your care needs are more complex
• You need total support with your mobility, medication or feeding
• Your stroke was quite severe, and you cannot verbalise
• You would like to remain independent and in your own home and community
• You have continence issues

At Helping Hands we have a team of Clinical Nurse Specialists who are on hand to support with any complex, clinical or medically orientated packages of care. They have extensive experience in nursing support, and the NHS and are involved in the set up of all of our complex packages.

If you do require complex support your carer, or small team of carers, will be trained in your exact requirements to ensure you are able to receive the perfect level of care for your needs. Having a team of two carers available to do this also means that you will also have a carer on hand who is trained to accommodate your specific care requirements.

Helping Hands has been established since 1989, and we have been providing high quality care for every one of those years. All of the carers that work at our Eastbourne branch have been through a rigorous recruitment and training process to ensure we have the best carers available.

Where needed, our carers then go through further training to ensure that they have the exact skillset to suit you. Be that general support around the house, personal care, or complex nursing care.

If you require complex care we will train our carers to suit your needs, ensuring you get an entirely personalised support plan to suit your exact needs.

Your local Eastbourne team are on hand to support you with every step of your care plan. We provide a fully managed service, which means that Sue and her team will set-up your care plan, and maintain regular contact throughout your entire care plan with us. The team are there to answer your questions at any time, and make any alterations to your care plan if and when your needs change.