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Stroke survivors, health professionals and researchers come together to provide you with practical advice to enable you on your journey to reclaim your life after stroke. Join the conversation at enableme.org.au. This series is presented by Australia’s Stroke Foundation and sponsored by Allergan.

enableme podcast

The number one topic stroke survivors ask us about is neuroplasticity, and how to take advantage of the brain’s amazing potential to change itself. But there’s still a lot of confusion about what it actually entails, what to expect, or even who can help you with it. We speak to physiotherapy lecturer Michelle McDonnell, neuroscientist Lavinia Codd, stroke survivor Karen Bayly and occupational therapist Simone Russell about their experience of retraining the brain.

Stroke Foundation #1 - Neuroplasticity

For anyone who’s had a stroke, one of the biggest fears is whether it will happen again. We speak to general practitioner and author Dr Bill Williams, stroke survivor Nikki Mennel and occupational therapist Simone Russell about how not to let that anxiety hold you back. And with Australia’s Biggest Blood Pressure Check underway, we discuss what you can do to reduce your risk.

Stroke Foundation #2 - Fear of a second stroke

People often associate stroke with muscle weakness. After all, that’s one of the F.A.S.T. signs. But after a stroke you can sometimes find your muscles are too tight, leading to stiffness in your legs, arms and fingers. This is what is known as spasticity, and it can cause spasms, it can affect your limb positions and it can be painful.

Stroke Foundation #3 - Spasticity

Fatigue is one of the biggest disabilities that stroke survivors face. It’s more than just regular tiredness that can be relieved by a good night’s sleep. Fatigue can hold back your recovery and keep you from getting your life back to normal. It’s also an invisible disability, meaning it can be hard to get support. But there are things that can be done: we look at the latest research evidence and advice about dealing with post-stroke fatigue.

Stroke Foundation #4 - Fatigue

Communication is a very important part of life. This means that losing the ability to speak can have very big impact. About one-third of stroke survivors have speech and language problems, such as aphasia.

In this podcast, we talk about what it's like living with a communication disorder and what can be done to help.

Stroke Foundation #5 - Aphasia

Stroke Foundation #18 - Driving

In this podcast, we talk about issues like knowing when it’s safe to fly, finding accessible destinations and transport, making sure you have assistance if you need it, and getting travel insurance.

Stroke Foundation #19 - Travel

Stroke Foundation #22 Hidden disability

Yoga is very popular with stroke survivors as a form of exercise and as an activity to connect with the community. In this podcast, we speak physiotherapist and researcher Professor Susan Hillier, stroke survivor Sue Bowden, and Simone Russell and Jude Czerenkowski from StrokeLine, about the benefits people get from yoga, and how you can get into practising it if you’ve had a stroke.

Stroke Foundation #24 Yoga

So much of the way we interact with the world and how the world interacts with us is based on vision, so when a stroke affects your sight it can have a very big impact on your life. In this special episode put together with Vision Australia, we talk about how a stroke can affect your eyes and your ability to see, and what your options are if you have vision problems after a stroke. We talk to stroke survivor and Australia’s first blind fashion designer Nikki Hind, orthoptist Nabill Jacob from Vision Australia, and Katherine Yong from StrokeLine.

Stroke Foundation #25 - Vision

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