Twenty one stroke survivors in the Shai-Osudoku District of the
Greater Accra Region have undergone intensive occupational and physiotherapy on their journey to recovery and independence.

The Shai Osudoku Health Directorate in partnership with Go Therapy Incorporated and the Occupational Therapy Unit of the Ghana Health Service, initiated the two-month Stroke Community Re-Integration Programme (SCRIP).

The programme, which is in its sixth week, expected to be expanded in the coming months, was aimed at providing survivors independence through enhanced rehabilitation and education on how to live healthily by eating balance diets.

Group sessions for the stroke survivors had been initiated as an avenue for them to share ideas, re-learn vital and lost abilities, regain independence and reduce the risk of further strokes.

Speaking at one of such clinical contact sessions with the stroke survivors, christened, “Nutrition Day with Stroke Survivors, ” Madam Sefakor Sapaty, Senior Nutrition Officer, Shai-Osudoku District, said some strides had been made in the last six weeks in intensive physiotherapy and occupational therapy for survivors.

She explained that, in stroke care, more awareness ought to be done on the management of the condition as well as physiotherapy and occupational therapy to help survivors and those at risk to improve their quality of life.

According to her, achieving long-term rehabilitation goals including reintegration into local communities was crucial to survival, and said “nutrition was also vital for the improvement of health and the prevention of further relapse of Stroke.”

Maintaining a good nutrition regime, she further stated, helped to control hypertension thereby preventing further stroke and speeding up recovery, and cautioned that, stroke often affected appetite hence the need to demonstrate how to boost appetite.

Madam Sapaty indicated that physiotherapy helped stroke survivors to incorporate the physical activity recommendations into their daily routine to reduce the risk of another stroke.

Whiles demonstrating healthy nutritional cooking, she called on the survivors to at all times; keep a food diary, eat soft food, cut down or replace salt with herbs, eat more Omega 3 fatty acids, cut down on saturated fats and refined sugars, eat at least five portions of fruits and vegetables daily, consume more whole grains,
amongst others.