Strike Out Strokes month
Home Care Greenwich CT
If you are on a home care journey with your elderly loved one, the reality of a stroke is likely something that you think about fairly often. You understand that approximately 795,000 people throughout the United States suffer a stroke each year, and that 130,000 of those will die from the experience. This makes stroke the third leading cause of death in the country. Fortunately, this does not have to be an inevitability for your parent.
May is Strike Out Strokes Month. A unique awareness month designed around the theme of baseball. This month is the perfect opportunity for you to blend the fun and nostalgia of the summer months with your efforts to keep stroke from being a devastating force in your aging parent’s life.
Use these ideas to inspire you to enjoy creative ways to reduce your parent’s stroke risk and improve their health during Strike Out Strokes Month and throughout the rest of the summer:
• Attend an awareness game. The number of people who suffer from a stroke each year would fill around 15 Major League Baseball stadiums. Really make a connection with this number, learn more about stroke, and have fun with your elderly loved one by heading to one of the Strike Out Strokes awareness events. This organization teams up with baseball organizations across the country to host special event games that encourage stroke survivors, caretakers, friends, and family to come out and raise awareness of strokes. Getting out to the ballgame is also a fantastic way to give your parent some extra physical activity and stimulate their brain.
• Batter up. Physical activity is a highly effective way of reducing stroke risk by combating some of the most impactful risk factors, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. You do not actually have to put together a team and take over the local sandlot to get the benefits of physical activity with a baseball twist. Consider going to a batting cage and having your aging parent hit a few rounds of balls. Visit a local baseball field and walk or even slowly jog around the bases while you talk about all of the memories that baseball brings up for you. Encourage your parent to play catch with your children. All of these activities get their heart pumping and burn calories for improved physical health.
• Get creative with your food. Nothing says summer like enjoying your favorite cookout and picnic foods at the ball field. Many of these foods, however, do not have the proper nutrition for keeping your parent healthy and controlling stroke risk. This does not mean, however, that your parent cannot continue to enjoy them. Work with your aging loved one and their in-home care services provider to choose your favorite summertime recipes and modify them to make them more stroke risk-friendly. This includes cutting down on fat and salt, and replacing it with delicious flavor. Try skipping the salt shaker and instead adding flavor with herbs, spices, and vinegars.