Community Stroke Team Programs

Master Stroke

This program is offered to patients who have sustained a stroke. Master Stroke is an 8week self-management program, focusing on secondary stroke prevention and living well after stroke. Clients attend twice per week – Mondays for exercise and education, and on Wednesdays for exercise only. The program is held in the gym, Royal Newcastle Centre (John Hunter Hospital campus) several times per year.

The benefits of the program include:

• To improve fitness, strength and prevent further strokes through individualised exercise programs conducted in a small group setting. It doesn’t matter how well the patient can walk, if they are in a wheelchair or if they have other health conditions.
• To assist patients to make changes in their lifestyle that will reduce their risk of stroke.
• To assist patients to understand and manage the effects of their stroke.

SLAM-TIA

This is a group for patients who have had a recent TIA or mild stroke. It is a 6week self-management program focusing on secondary stroke prevention and increasing physical activity. Patients attend twice per week on a Tuesday and Thursday to exercise and learn how to make lifestyle changes to reduce their risk of stroke and improve their overall cardiovascular health. There is a cost to attend the program, which is held at a local gym in Lambton.

Benefits of the program include:

• To improve fitness and strength and reduce the risk of further strokes through individualised exercise programs conducted in a small group setting.
• To understand TIA/stroke and about how lifestyle factors can contribute to stroke risk.
• The opportunity to connect with other TIA/stroke survivors.

Healthy After Stroke Online

Healthy After Stroke Online (HASO) offers stroke/TIA survivors the opportunity to participate in education and supervised exercise from the comfort of your own home using an online meeting. This group program is designed to provide participants with the knowledge and confidence to make lifestyle changes to reduce their future risk of stroke. It runs for 6 weeks every Tuesday (education and exercise) and Thursday (exercise only) via the internet.

Benefits of the program include:

• To improve fitness and strength and reduce the risk of further strokes through individualised exercise programs conducted in a small group setting.
• To understand TIA/stroke and about how lifestyle factors can contribute to stroke risk.
• The opportunity to connect with other TIA/stroke survivors.
• The flexibility to attend online from a place that suits you.

Brainstorm

The Brainstorm program is run with Liaison Psychiatry, John Hunter Hospital and the Community Stroke Team.

It is a 6-session group program for the prevention and treatment of emotional distress in patients who have had a stroke. You are encouraged to bring your partner/support person along to Brainstorm. It runs once a week on a Monday.

The benefits of the program include:

• Learning new ways to solve problems.
• Learning to change the way you think.
• Learning to change what you do.

Vitality

The Vitality program is offered to patients who suffer from fatigue after a stroke. It incorporates education sessions and home-based exercise over 6-8 weeks and is run at the John Hunter Hospital campus.

The benefits of the program include:

• Reducing post stroke fatigue symptoms by combining exercise, education and mindfulness.
• Learn to understand your fatigue and strategies for managing it.
• Give you skills to manage your own health.

Community Aphasia Group

This 8week program is for stroke survivors with aphasia (communication difficulties). It is run by the Speech Pathologist. Groups are held at Royal Newcastle Centre, John Hunter Hospital.

The benefits of the program include:

• Providing an opportunity for clients with long-term communication difficulty to meet with others with similar difficulties to discuss and learn about living with aphasia.
• An opportunity to practice and maintain communication skills and strategies already learnt in therapy.
• Providing information about services in the community that may be useful for people with aphasia.

The groups are held on Thursdays.

Community Stroke Team

We provide group programs, education and information to stroke survivors and their families/support person living in the Newcastle, Lake Macquarie or Port Stephens areas. Programs are focused on secondary stroke prevention and living well after stroke. Most programs are free of charge. The Community Stroke Team (CST) include; physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists and Allied Health Assistants.