NewsDetail
All through October and November, Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) stroke teams have been actively raising awareness of the signs, symptoms and risk factors of stroke in recognition of World Stroke Day, which was marked on 29 October.
The international theme for World Stroke Day 2016 – ‘Face the facts: Stroke is treatable’ – aimed to highlight the significant medical advances that have been made in the treatment and care given to stroke patients. World Stroke Day 2016 recognizes that although stroke is a complex medical issue, there are ways to significantly reduce its impact.
One crucial aspect of stroke care is rehabilitation, as Dr. Wafaa Al Yazeedi, Acting Chairperson of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department at Rumailah Hospital explained: “Due to the prevalence of risk factors such as diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, the incidence of stroke in Qatar is rising. Each year, more than 1,000 acute stroke patients are admitted to HMC and many of these patients require long-term rehabilitative care to help them recover.”
Acute strokes often damage critical parts of the brain that control muscle strength, movement and coordination. When the blood supply to the brain is suddenly cut off due to an acute stroke, damage to these areas of the brain can lead to a loss of function and coordination in various parts of the body.
“The primary aim of stroke rehabilitation is to enable the patient to relearn the motor skills they have lost due to the stroke. HMC’s expert rehabilitation teams work together by setting individual patient goals to overcome challenges and find innovative solutions that noticeably improve patient recovery,” said Dr. Al Yazeedi.
“The rehabilitation process for patients at HMC begins as early as possible, often 24 to 48 hours after the stroke has occurred. It is important to start the patient’s recovery process as soon as possible to give them the best chance of recovery,” she noted.
The quality and safety of HMC’s rehabilitation services is endorsed by the Joint Commission International (JCI), a leading global accreditation body, as part of HMC’s successful JCI Stroke Center Certification. However, HMC is committed to continually advancing its rehabilitation services and in the near future stroke patients will be among those to benefit from the opening of the Qatar Rehabilitation Institute (QRI) in Doha’s Hamad Bin Khalifa Medical City.
The ground-breaking new facility will provide patients with world-class integrated rehabilitation services, including specialist stroke recovery. Multi-disciplinary teams of physicians and occupational, physical, pediatric and speech therapists will work together to offer advanced stroke and traumatic brain injury treatments and services.
These cutting-edge services and treatments will be tailored to each patient’s individual needs. For stroke patients, one of the services that will be offered is intensive gait training to help patients walk again. Additionally, QRI’s strength and endurance services will focus on helping patients’ neurologic, muscular, bone and joint recovery to help them regain their independence.
The QRI’s coordinated and collaborative inter-disciplinary approach to treatment and therapy will be based on the most up-to-date research and practice and its foremost goal will be to help patients reach their maximum recovery potential so that they can return to living as normal a life as possible.
