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The following summary defines the North Carolina Stroke Association’s scope of services as it works toward developing a healthier community. The North Carolina Stroke Association has been in operation since 1999 and its mission is to reduce the incidence and impact of stroke through screening and education. The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust provided operational seed money. The North Carolina Stroke Association’s goal is to create transportable stroke programs that address stroke prevention, stroke education, and post-stroke services. The North Carolina Stroke Association was founded in 1998 by a group of physicians and lay persons who saw a need to create a stroke association to address problems generated by the high prevalence of stroke in North Carolina. Nationally, approximately 739,000 strokes occur, annually. North Carolina is in the “stroke buckle” with South Carolina and Georgia where stroke death rate is two times greater than the national average. Among the “stroke buckle” states, North Carolina follows South Carolina and precedes Georgia in stroke death rate.
Stroke disables more than it kills and it is the leading cause of serious long-term adult disability. Nationally, there are approximately 4.8 million stroke survivors of whom two-thirds are moderately or severely disabled. The single most important fact, in the face of these statistics, is that stroke is largely preventable.
The North Carolina Stroke Association has two centerpiece programs: Stroke Risk Identification Program and the Beyond the Hospital. In 2008, the Stroke Association’s Partnership Grant Program awarded $40,000 in grants to Onslow Memorial Hospital and Caldwell Memorial Hospital to assist them in creating stroke programs and protocols in their community outreach and within their hospitals. The Stroke Association assists hospitals through grant-writing and mentoring, in obtaining grants from foundations that support long-term goals. In 2009, the Stroke Association awarded $6,700.00 to Pitt County Memorial Hospital to expand their outreach in rural eastern North Carolina.
What is a stroke? Stroke is a brain injury that happens when a disruption of the blood supply to the brain occurs. It results in brain cell death, since the cells can no longer receive oxygen from the circulating blood supply, as is the case of an Ischemic Stroke, or when they are damaged due to bleeding, as caused by a hemorrhagic stroke.
Approximately 20% of stroke survivors require long-term care, and up to 30% are permanently disabled.
What are stroke signs and symptoms? Knowledge is powerful, and knowing stroke risk factors and signs and symptoms enhances the ability to make healthy choices. Lifestyle choices are considered modifiable risk factors. Healthy lifestyles include physical activity, healthy diet, and not smoking. Cigarette smoking significantly increases stroke risk. Other modifiable risk factors include hypertension, diabetes, high lipids/cholesterol, and certain heart conditions like atrial fibrillation, and these can be controlled with proper treatment and intervention.
What are stroke symptoms? Knowing stroke warning signs, and treating them as a medical emergency by calling 911 can help save lives and improve health outcomes. The key factor that differentiates stroke symptoms is the suddenness of onset. Warning signs are:
- Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm, leg, especially on one side of the body
- Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
- Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
- Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
- Sudden severe headache with no known cause
What is the NC Stroke Association doing to address stroke’s challenges? The Stroke Association created the Stroke Risk Identification Program and the Beyond the Hospital Program. The prevention and education programs are unique on different fronts: They are measurable, standardized, evidence-based, and community-focused.
The Stroke Risk Identification Program is designed to: 1) identify individuals who are at high risk of developing stroke; 2) review and counsel with the participants screening results, and 3) provide them with identified community medical resources for intervention treatment. The correlation between the high frequency of cerebrovascular disease and the incidence of poverty supports our priority efforts in the elderly, the working poor and the minority populations. The program is standardized, and data is available in aggregate or site specific.
The NC Stroke Association is currently in the process of enhancing the post-stroke outcomes and secondary prevention with “Beyond the Hospital”, a program that is designed to meet JCACHO standards of patient education, using evidenced- based questions. The association’s infrastructure provides the mechanism for implementation. The program is standardized, and data will be available, hospital specific.
Strategic Partnerships
The North Carolina Stroke Association’s local efforts have resulted in enlarging its circle of influence in the state as it takes the lead in providing stroke prevention, education, and post-stroke services for the high-risk and underserved populations. The stroke association has identified hospitals in the state where program sites will serve the surrounding communities. The strategic design will encapsulate, in concentric circles, all counties of the state. Through these Partnerships, the NC Stroke Association will facilitate its programs.
Our Partnerships:
The NC Stroke Association is committed to assisting hospitals in their efforts to implement community stroke prevention and education programs, and to create inpatient stroke treatment protocols. The Stroke Association’s focus is to provide standardized program models and grant monies in order to realize those goals throughout North Carolina.
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