Stroke Buddies: By and For Stroke Survivors
Do you want to ask a question, if so; Check out our Facebook group called Stroke Buddies: 8.9K members and growing
Stroke Buddies is a collaborative self-management group for stroke survivors, their families, and healthcare professionals. We believe that you have to take responsibility for your recovery and that you mostly get better at home by doing lots of hard work. Physical and occupational therapists make excellent guides, but they are just that. We are here to share what we have learned on our journeys and keep each other from constantly reinventing the wheel one survivor at a time.
There are 8 million stroke survivors in the US. 800,000 new people have a stroke every year. If 1 in 10 survivors took on a stroke buddy, every new survivor would have some support from someone who’s been through it.
By and For Stroke Survivors to see how much information we can spread around and promote this concept.
Ultimately, the idea is to roll it out nationally. You wouldn’t have to be a survivor to take on someone, nor would you have to recover yourself fully. There are nearly 6,000 members benefiting from this free Facebook group.
Many stroke survivors can learn PT and become PT assistants to other survivors as I have, but there is a part for anyone who wants to get involved.
I’ve known two survivors that had difficulty reading, so I set them up with talking books through the state library system. A survivor could read to another survivor. Companionship is often an issue with decreased mobility, as are outings, shopping, and appointments. The list is virtually endless. So, the basic idea is to form a stroke community. If we do that, those who market to that community would be interested in reaching it, in a sense empowering that community – us. There could be an “Angie’s List” of caregivers, care providers, medical suppliers, adaptive equipment, adaptive clothing, etc. That list would benefit survivors with qualified vendors to turn to while fueling Stroke Buddies, so we can bring you more information.
We already have one PT and one OT on board. If you know more, invite them to be in this group. If you see any stroke survivors, ask them to be in this group. By ourselves, each of us is reinventing the wheel. Together we have power.
100% of your contribution will go towards generating content to support the community we serve. We have no salaries, no office, and no real overhead. This is a labor of love by and for stroke survivors.