How should domestic helpers practice home care for post-stroke elderly?: Y Good Helper x Fair Agency
Stroke ranks fourth as a fatal disease in Hong Kong, and is also a common cause of disability for adults. For those affected by stroke, home care is essential.
A stroke may happen suddenly, without pain, or during sleep. Symptoms of a stroke are commonly:
- Slurred speech, trouble speaking, or trouble understanding speech
- Drooping of one side of the face
- Sudden loss of strength in limbs, numbing, weakness or fainting
- Sudden trouble seeing from one or both eyes
- Sudden severe headache
- Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
When an elderly employer experiences a stroke, home care is critical to supporting their recovery. Adequate home care can also actively prevent a stroke from recurring. This can be done by paying attention to three main aspects of home care: diet, lifestyle and mental health.
Post-stroke home care: Diet
You can consider the following dietary tips for post-stroke home care:
- Create meal plans in line with dietary recommendations from the doctor
- Limit oil and fat, salt, sugar and alcohol intake
- Increase intake of certain foods to prevent and address constipation
Post-stroke home care: Lifestyle
You can consider the following lifestyle tips for post-stroke home care:
- Encourage the employer to do mild exercise at home
- Help the employer practise simple routines at home (eg. going to the toilet, face washing or showering)
- Install home care facilities such as fall and injury-prevention
- Do skincare to prevent pressure injury
- Create alarms for medication reminders
Post-stroke home care: Mental Health
You can consider the following mental health tips for post-stroke home care:
- Encourage the employer to share concerns with someone they trust
- Encourage the employer to take up new hobbies
- Support the employer in making plans with their loved ones and socialize
Learn more from Y Good Helper x Fair Agency: Basic dementia care for domestic helpers
Y Good Helper provides training and support to domestic helpers taking care of the elderly. Visit ysc.ywca.org.hk for more details.
