THE head of the Stroke Association of Victoria has said the organisation only has money to last until next July, so survivors, carers and volunteers are lobbying the State Government to commit more funding.<\/p>\n
To further that cause, SAV CEO Tom Degonis visited the Bendigo Stroke Support Centre last week and met with Member for Bendigo West, Maree Edwards.<\/p>\n
Mr Degonis said previous funding has allowed his organisation to establish five regional support centres and appoint vocation consultants in each area.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat used to happen was, the first six weeks after a stroke, [there was] rehab, and then people were given a green card to go home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were a lot of services you could get through the internet, but there was a lot of isolation and not much else in terms of joining up with people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we do is you can link up with other people and that\u2019s important, and then we provide services to give people the confidence to be able to get jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem is, come July next year, funding finishes. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen after July\u2026 because once you send them back home the isolation can lead to other problems like depression.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Mr Degonis, this year SAV is providing regular support to 1300 people who have had strokes.<\/p>\n
Local survivor Nick Martin said more needs to be done to prevent discrimination and help people who have had strokes get back in to work.<\/p>\n
\u201cNowadays you have to disclose if you have any illnesses, as soon as [an employer] sees that word stroke, nobody wants to know,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think it\u2019s about time our State and Federal governments did more to help stroke survivors.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find my biggest wall is fatigue, and a lot of stroke survivors suffer from that. If we could work three, four hours a day on a part time basis, we could fill a lot of positions that are vacant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Edwards said she will be advocating for funding to continue to SAV and the Bendigo support centre.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a vital service, particularly for people in regional communities who don\u2019t necessarily have access to other supports around stroke survival,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know how important this group is and how important the Stroke Association of Victoria is, so I\u2019ll certainly be having some conversations with the minister regarding ongoing funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s such a shortage of workers across all sectors. If they can support people who\u2019ve had a stroke, who are still able to work, to get back into the workforce in some capacity, then that\u2019s a brilliant outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE head of the Stroke Association of Victoria has said the organisation only has money to last until next July, so survivors, carers and volunteers are lobbying the State Government to commit more funding. To further that cause, SAV CEO Tom Degonis visited the Bendigo Stroke Support Centre last week and met with Member for […]<\/p>\n