Conference Details - 2007

The Different Strokes 2007 Annual Conference was arranged by the Coordinator and members of the Kendal Different Strokes exercise class and took place at Kendal Leisure Centre on Saturday 3rd November 2007, followed by dinner at Stonecross Manor Hotel.
The day was well attended by a mixture of stroke survivors, their carers and companions, and healthcare professionals. The speakers presented information on topics relevant to people with personal experience of stroke.

Mike Druce, the Chair of the Board of Trustees opened the conference with an update on the current position of Different Strokes. He reported a healthy financial situation, with the year ending much stronger than it began, however he warned that although we are confident for the future, we need to maintain the fundraising effort and to continue to carefully manage expenditure.
Mike also highlighted the National Stroke Strategy, which is due to be launched by the end of this year. Different Strokes’ response to the strategy is available on our website.

Marcus Katz provided some insightful information about the use of hypnotherapy and Neuro Linguistic Programming. His interest in applying these to stroke-related issues was recently sparked when a friend underwent a stroke, aged 34.
www.nlpmagick.com

Dr Jane Wainwright gave a talk about carotid artery dissection as a cause of stroke. Jane is involved in the direct care of patients on the acute stroke unit at Hope Hospital in Manchester.
See her presentation here.

Many delegates at the conference were able to see how Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) is used for mobility problems caused by stroke, which was the subject of a presentation by Professor Ian Swain, who has been involved with developing FES at Salisbury District Hospital.
See his presentation here.

Jo Stevens has been a stroke nurse for 6 years and is currently employed as a research nurse for the Stroke Research Network. Her talk covered its history and aims and the work being carried out in the North West and she encouraged stroke survivors to get involved in research into stroke care.
See her presentation here.

Maureen Twiddy presented the findings from her research into the psychological effects of stroke. The research was inspired by strong feelings about the unmet needs of families struggling to come to terms with the impact of stroke and looks at their understanding of stroke symptoms, causes, consequences and controllability, and how families come to a shared understanding of how to cope with its effects.
See her presentation here.

Janet Rockliffe had a stroke in 1994 and suffered from aphasia as a result. Since then she has become involved with aphasia organisations and started the Kendal Speakability self help group. Janet told us how having aphasia led to her involvement with the Aphasia International Association.
See her presentation here.

Richard Mountford is employed as Media Officer for the Aphasia Alliance, which is a coalition of 12 organisations that are working towards raising awareness of aphasia. His talk was about who the Aphasia Alliance are, what they intend to do, and how people can contribute. Turn to page 14 for more information.
See his presentation here.

David Perry specialises in helping people return to work after periods of ill health. His employer has a contract with Jobcentre Plus to operate the New Deal for Disabled People programme and David’s presentation was about the support available to people returning to work and how to go about accessing it.
See his presentation here.

The day ended with a very uplifting presentation about the work being carried out by the Calvert Trust in Keswick. John Crosbie is Centre Director of the Lake District site and talked to us about challenging outdoor activities for people with disabilities. This was followed by a film showing disabled people taking part in activities such as abseiling, climbing and sailing.
www.calvert-trust.org.uk

During the breaks delegates were able to see demonstrations of equipment that could be useful to stroke survivors, such as Saeboflex, Functional Electrical Stimulation and Medimotion. More information is available from their websites:
www.motomed-medimotion.co.uk
saebo.com
www.odstockmedical.com

The day’s events were followed by a conference dinner at the Stonecross Manor Hotel, where an excellent meal and relaxing ambience were enjoyed by 32 people.

Feedback from the delegates’ evaluation forms has been analysed and the following charts show how the speakers and venue were rated. The general feeling was that the 2007 Conference was a success, so many thanks to the speakers for sharing information about their work with us. See the charts here.

I’d also like to thank Jackie and Bob Langman and Different Strokes Kendal for their hard work in organising the venue, inviting the speakers, providing local information for delegates, and for their willingness to do everything necessary to make it so successful.

And finally, thanks to all the delegates for your support.