For Immediate Release
Contact: Derek Berry
Media Relations Manager
Washington, DC – September 29, 2009 – There’s a lot written about how to prevent a stroke from happening, but how do patients, spouses and family members handle the aftermath? There are so many questions patients have, ranging from, “What will my rehabilitation be like and how long will it take?” to “Can I drink or have sexual experiences again?”
A second edition book published by the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) Press called Managing Stroke: A Guide to Living Well After Stroke, by Paul Rao, PhD, Brendan Conroy, MD, and Christine Baron, MA, CCC-SLP, not only answers those questions, but sheds light on what life is like or can continue to be like after a person goes through an often times traumatic, life-changing event such as stroke. The book is a primer on stroke rehabilitation for the patient and the family to understand the road that lies ahead and provides further details into the art and science of stroke therapy.
Managing Stroke looks at new technologies available to patients such as the ZeroG system, which physical therapists use to help teach patients to walk without fear of falling and advises patients how to pay for physical and occupational therapies, especially if the patient and their family rely upon Medicare or Medicaid.
The book’s forward is written by Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.Dakota, who suffered a stroke in December 2006. Sen. Johnson notes in his forward that the real journey, post-stroke, begins with rehabilitation. “I’ve learned that for all of us, success is dependent upon several things: the skill of rehabilitation experts; the support of loving family and friends; and inevitably, your own strength of will.”
The book also supplies readers with personal stories from those who’ve suffered a stroke, from as young as 30 to age 70-plus. It also gives readers detailed definitions of various terms that patients and their families will need to become familiar with, such as “apraxia” (“loss or impairment of the ability to perform complex muscular movements”) in a comprehensive, easy-to-understand glossary.
There is also a unit on quality of life after a stroke, complete with photos of various adaptive technologies available to stroke patients and their families to help readjust to everyday life as well as an exhaustive list of stroke-related resources which are easy for patients and families to access via email or phone.
“There’s really no other book out there like this,” says Paul Rao, NRH Vice President of Clinical Services, Corporate Compliance and Quality Improvement. “This book really helps with the specifics of how to handle a stroke. It explains, in a patient-centered fashion, the effects of stroke and the rehabilitation principles involved in the recovery of language, thinking, movement of arms and legs, and the resumption of daily living skills such as dressing and cooking.”
National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) is a private, not-for-profit facility located in Northwest Washington, D.C. NRH’s services are designed specifically for the rehabilitation of individuals with disabling injuries and illnesses such as stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury and disease, arthritis, amputations, post-polio syndrome, chronic pain, back and neck pain, occupational injuries, cancer and cardiac disease that require medical rehabilitation, and other neurological and orthopedic conditions. NRH admits approximately 2,200 inpatients annually, has appeared on the “Best Hospitals” list in U.S. News & World Report for 15 consecutive years and is currently ranked among the top hospitals in medical rehabilitation in America. NRH has the only CARF accredited specialty program for both Spinal Cord Injury and Stroke in the region. In addition, NRH’s Spinal Cord Injury Program has been designated one of only 14 Model SCI Systems of care in the country by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), a part of the Department of Education. NRH is a proud member of MedStar Health