The Mayo Stroke Support Group has announced details of a new schedule of meetings for 2013. The Stroke Support Group, which is a HSE initiative supported by local heart and stroke charity Croí, provides an invaluable resource to many individuals affected by stroke in Mayo, and their families and carers.
Launched in 2010, the Stroke Support Group aims to facilitate social activities; provide information; raise awareness; and offer support and advice on living with stroke, to its many members. Following the success of the Stroke Support Group meetings in Ballina, the Mayo Stroke Support Group is extending its programme to include meetings in both Ballina and Castlebar.
The first meeting of the new programme entitled Live it! Life after Stroke will take place in the Castlebar Tennis Club on Thursday January 31 from 11.30pm to 1pm. The guest speaker will be Dr Tom O’ Malley, consultant physician, Mayo General Hospital. The Stroke Support Group will continue to hold monthly meetings until June. These meetings will take place on the last Thursday of every month and the venue will alternate between Castlebar and Ballina.
Welcoming the new programme of meetings, Barbara Ginley, senior speech and language therapist, HSE West, said: “In 2011 alone, around 300 people were admitted with stroke symptoms to the Stroke Unit in Mayo General Hospital. These people ranged in ages from young adults to the very elderly. As healthcare professionals, we recognise a need for more social support in addition to therapeutic services.”
For further information on the Mayo Stroke Support Group and the programme of scheduled meetings, please contact any of the following: Barbara Ginley, senior speech and language therapist, Mayo PCCC on 096- 21511 or email [email protected]; Niamh Murtagh, stroke care nurse specialist, Mayo General Hospital on 094 904 9342 or email [email protected]; Alanna Ní Mhíocháin, senior speech and language therapist, Mayo General Hospital on 094 904 2368 or email [email protected]; Ailish Houlihan, Croí nurse and co-ordinator of the Mayo Action on Heart Disease and Stroke programme on 094 904 9172 or email [email protected]
