More than 6 in 10 stroke survivors rely on the help and support of a carer to help them with day-to-day living - activities like getting dressed, making meals or going out to the shops.
Sometimes people are paid to carry out these tasks. But often it falls to family members or friends, who become unpaid carers.
To better understand the challenges facing stroke survivors and the help they need, we ran a representative survey of stroke survivors and unpaid carers.
From the results, it's clear that people who take on a caring role are absolutely vital to stroke survivors rebuilding their lives after stroke. But caring can be incredibly demanding.
Together we can do much more to support carers in all they do for stroke survivors.
Read or download chapter 3 - Caring for a stroke survivor:
How we can help
- Our Stroke Helpline (0303 3033 100) supports approximately 5,500 formal and informal carers and family members a year.
- Where available, our support coordinators and counsellors offer practical and emotional support to carers face to face.
- In some areas, we offer a five-week educational programme called 'Caring and you'.
- We have information available guides including, 'Supporting a stroke survivor', 'Stroke: a carer's guide' and 'You're not alone'.
- Join our Online Community and connect with thousands of people on the forum who understand stroke first hand. Chatting to people can help you cope better and rebuild your life after stroke.
- We also provide information and support about how to request a carer's assessment.
- We're working with carers to explore how we can better help to address the challenges they face.