There are around 900 strokes a year in Canterbury. That’s 900 added to the 900 last year and the year before that. Start compounding that number and the scale of the problem becomes obvious.
We are very fortunate in Christchurch in that the level of acute, sub-acute and community care is extremely high. But there inevitably comes a time when stroke survivors are on their own and skilled exercise options are limited.
To improve the odds of finding suitable exercise, EaM is partnering with Christchurch City Council and Mainpower Stadium to upskill 25 exercise professionals around how to work with stroke. The other player in this project is the Te Whatu Ora Community Stroke Team who, while they can’t refer to a specific provider, have been extremely helpful.
This means half a dozen council and community gyms in Christchurch and Rangiora will have the capacity to provide functional stroke survivors with meaningful exercise programmes that will foster their recovery and enhance their quality of life.
The end goal is to replicate what we do across the range of long-term in council leisure centres across the country.