MY Blogs
Latest blogs from colleagues and patients across the Trust.
Stroke Awareness Month Louise Freemantle
During Stroke Awareness Month, we are shining a spotlight on some of the staff who work with stroke patients at Mid Yorkshire Teaching Trust, to learn a little bit more about their roles. Today, we hear from Louise Freemantle who works with patients in the community.
Hello, my name is Louise Freemantle, and I am the Clinical Lead Physiotherapist for the MY Therapy Stroke and Neuro Team. I have been a physiotherapist for 24 years, and have worked at Mid Yorkshire since I qualified. I have worked across the whole stroke pathway as I have worked as part of the in-patient team and have now been based in the community for the last 14 years.
My role is to provide clinical leadership to the team and support them to provide therapy intervention in the community, whether in the patient’s own home, or in an out-patient clinic. Part of the role involves keeping up to date with research and what other services are offering and ensuring we are providing the best service we can to the people of Wakefield.
Working with stroke survivors is a very rewarding role as a physiotherapist. Within the community, the focus is personalised care – what is important to that person. We spend time to agree realistic goals that therapy will work on, aiming towards what is important for them. This could be their arm function, their walking, their balance. As every patient is different, each day is different which makes it interesting.
Working in people’s homes, we can see what is important and can make our therapy bespoke to each person. It is really rewarding to see people regain their independence and return to activities that they did before the stroke. The community setting adds the meaning – it is not just about the stroke survivor being able to walk, but it’s about them being able to walk around the supermarket. It’s not just getting their arm moving better, but it is about them being able to complete the kitchen tasks that are important to them.
But for some stroke survivors, the effect of the stroke means that sitting out of bed regularly is an achievement for them. Working with the occupational therapists and providing appropriate equipment, means we can work on the person’s goal to be able to have their meals out of bed, or to watch their favourite television show.
Community therapy is varied, with each stroke survivor being different, but it is rewarding as we are helping to improve the quality of the lives of the stroke survivors we work with.