20240420 : stroke surveys...

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I keep getting a lot of stroke surveys to fill up from time to time. 

I fill these religiously and provide the information the survey asks for. I fill them genuinely as I don't know what it is going to be used for generally. 

Do you know the biggest underlying problem I find in all of them (I have not come across an exception till date).

They all assume a stroke is a stroke is a stroke.. surely, we can draw conclusions with generalized assumptions. 

Unfortunately, a stroke is not a stroke is not a stroke. If we get a headache, stomach ache or any other illnesses/ diseases they somehow can be generalized and we can understand the symptoms, causes and consequences thus having generalized treatments and care. 

However, the only thing common for every stroke is that the root cause was deprivation of oxygen to the brain cells causing the cells to either weaken or die. 

Where the stroke happened in the brain, for how long, how much impact did it cause and to what functions, the age of the person, underlying health of the person, etc, etc. there are two many unrelated variables....

Naturally no two strokes are same in the world. Its like our finger print. 

The best part, rehabilitation depends on the mindset of the stroke survivor which influences neuroplasticity and actual recovery thereafter .

It is very evident to me (when I see the survey questions) that the author has no idea what a stroke is. Unfortunately, with the power of Mr.google (and ChatGPT nowadays) everyone is knowledgeable in what a stroke is and things like that.

Thing is, we can't understand anything by knowing about anything as much. One has to understand everything by experiencing it

Obviously it is a very tall ask - that stroke survey authors should have experienced a stroke to understand what they are asking...

Which brings me to the other favourite topic of mine - Therapists (whether it is physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, etc, etc. it is very clear (there might be exceptions) that none of them have been a stroke Survivor themselves. It's very clear they all care about the survivor and do the best for the survivors, but they don't know what they are asking a surveyor to do, do they?...


Comments

  1. Anonymous21/4/24 12:50

    Hi Srikanth, nice to hear from you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Santosh Lobo21/4/24 12:52

      Sorry, it’s me Santosh Lobo

      Delete
    2. Sreekanth21/4/24 17:34

      oh hi Santosh. nice to hear from you

      Delete
  2. Vinod KD22/4/24 10:05

    Honestly, its really hard to find good therapists. I'd even considered becoming one given how hard it was to find one, especially during COVID. I looked at the syllabus of the 2+ years old course, and to my engineer mind it seemed a bit not based on fact, and more on "useful" theories, not "provable" ones. But then IDK what of the mind is provable in any case. So useful might be all we can manage...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sreekanth9/5/24 10:04

      It will always be the case KD. Its impossible to understand anything with knowledge about it and not having experienced it ourselves....

      Delete

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