Knowledge, skills and benefits
Knowledge
After a stroke, around three quarters of people will find that their cognition has been affected. This may result in the following challenges:
- They may struggle to understand what is going on around them
- They may find it more difficult to keep their attention on things and be easily distracted
- They may need support to learn new things or remember things that someone has said to them
- They may have difficulty planning everyday activities, keeping themselves organised or solving everyday problems
- These new challenges may cause them to avoid doing everyday activities or socialising with other people
Skills
Clinicians should have the skills to work with people to help them to manage challenges and reduce the impact on their lives. Everyone has a role to play in this and should be equipped with the following skills:
- To understand that changes in cognition may be contributing to difficulties they are having in everyday activities
- To keep things simple in situations where they are having difficulty understanding new information
- To actively listen to their concerns to show them that you are working to understand their situation
- To be prepared to provide information more than once and in different formats (written down, pictures) to increase their chances of remembering the information
- To promote understanding of cognition and the development of these skills by carers and family members
- To give them time and space to think and work things through before asking if they wish to have assistance
- If working in a team, to act consistently with intervention plans developed by clinicians such as occupational therapists (OT) and psychologists
Benefits to the individual
- People with stroke will maximise their independence in a safe and effective manner, while carrying out everyday activities. They will be less likely to fail tasks. This is likely to benefit the person emotionally and their quality of life.
- Individuals will receive consistent input from staff to improve their self-management skills to enable them to be responsible for their own ongoing development
Page last reviewed: 15 Jul 2022
