Raising awareness of stroke
Members of the Community Stroke Rehabilitation Team (CSRT) spent last Thursday morning at the Department of Work and Pensions in St Leonards, raising awareness of strokes with the staff there and advising on how to prevent them.
Stroke is the 4th single largest cause of death in the UK and 2nd in the world, killing twice as many women as breast cancer and more men than prostate and testicular cancer combined. More than a third of stroke survivors in the UK are dependent on others for their care and half of all stroke survivors have a disability. However, many strokes could be prevented by making simple lifestyle changes such as eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly and avoiding smoking and drinking too much alcohol.
Kate Brooks, Community Stroke Rehab Dietitian said, “A stroke can be an extremely disabling event not only for the individual but also their family and friends. We want to raise awareness that by making a few small changes to your lifestyle and ensuring health conditions such as blood pressure, which is a major risk factor for stroke, are well controlled, the risk of stroke is reduced.”
Viv Freeman from the People Team at the Child Maintenance Group said: “As a large organisation it is important that we invest in the health and wellbeing of our people. In providing a health and well-being service we endeavour to bring a number of health checks and issues to the attention of our people in order that they are well informed and have the opportunity of taking preventative action. The event was very well received – the team were very friendly and approachable and a great source of information and advice. We look forward to inviting them back again later in the year.”
