Yorkton's SecurTek Pioneers have provided funding in the amount of $8,000 for a new therapy program now available for patients who have suffered a Stroke or Heart Attack.
The program is part of the new Rehabilitation Services for victims of Stroke and Heart Attack that was put in place in January of this year. In 2009 the Sunrise Health Region (SHR) was selected by the provincial government to undertake a pilot project that will save lives and prevent disability for many people who suffer a stroke.
Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability and the third leading cause of death in Saskatchewan. Each year in Sunrise Health Region approximately 300 people suffer a heart attack or stroke. For each 100 people who suffer a stroke, 10 per cent die, 15 per cent recover completely and 75 per cent are left with some level of disability or paralysis, which may be very mild or may be severe to the point of needing care in a nursing home as the person can no longer care for themselves.
"This new program is all about providing care closer to home, making it easier and faster to access treatment, and removing the expense of having to travel elsewhere to receive treatment. There is significant evidence that shows delaying treatment hurts a patient's chance for a full recovery," adds Lesley Stamatinos, Director of Therapies for SHR.
Further, research indicates that many patients, who suffer a stroke and cannot access treatment locally, never attend rehabilitation services for treatment.
This new program allows our residents much faster access to the treatment they need and will make it easier to access the services because they will be so much closer to home. It will also greatly reduce the expense of treatment as patients and families will no longer be going to and staying in Regina.
"We are continuing to expand the range of therapeutic services available to patients in our Health Region,"says Stamatinos. "This new program that the SecurTek Pioneers are providing the funds to buy the equipment for will provide a very practical element to our therapy. It will be part of a program to help patients to do the common household tasks and yard work that they normally do, and want to do, around their home."
"When Ross Fisher explained this program to us, our whole group liked the idea of helping to provide the new service. Not only does it expand the range of therapy that can be provided to patients here, it also improves the environment for therapy patients and for the seniors in the nursing home," adds Kristy Cmoc, of the SecurTek Pioneers.
"What we liked about this program was that it had benefits beyond just therapies," states Lynn Walker, Co-Chair of the SecurTek Pioneers. We will provide funding for items like gardening equipment, hand tools, benches and tables that will be part of the permanent environment of Cornerstone Therapies and the Yorkton and District Nursing Home. This project has benefits for patients, but also has benefits to the residents of the nursing home.
When families visit a loved one, there will be a better visiting environment. For patients in therapy, they won't have to be confined to their room or to the treatment rooms in therapies, they will be able to get outside and sit on benches, work in the garden with therapists giving them specific exercises that make sure they will have a range of movement to be able to garden and do other household tasks when they leave the facility.
