The third meeting of the Orange County Stroke Support Groups took place on Thursday, June 29, 2010 at 7:00 pm at the American Heart Association offices at 4600 Campus Drive, Irvine, CA 92617. Below are the meeting minutes. For future meeting information, please contact us.

 

Meeting minutes:

• May 8 Picnic Review discussed by participants at meeting: 
  • Took place on May 8 (Sat, 10-2), Aldrich Park, UCI; parking/facilities provided courtesy of Cramer Lab. We had about 200 attendees including stroke survivors, their families, vendors from various facilities across Orange County, UC Irvine and Chapman students/staff. Theme was:  “Living Well After Stroke”
  • Food and Drink: were plenty for all attendee
  • Facilities: Attendees expressed that it was a beautiful setting but had limited accessibility
• bathrooms needed to be closer
• parking was too far although it was great to have students with wheelchairs to assist
• vendor booths area was on uneven terrain, thus difficult to manage with assistive devices
• Program Format:
  • A few pre-selected individuals presented their success stories:
    • Attendees highly valued having speakers share their stories and having an opportunity to socialize with others in similar circumstances;
    • Speakers should be given more guidance about what the length and topics of their talks;
    • Caregivers should also be given a chance to speak.
• Resources/Information to Display/Present:
  • Attendees expressed that there was not enough information available to those who could not get to the booths; not all exhibitors were at their booths
  • Some suggestions were to have a vendors who would repair wheelchairs for free in exchange for marketing their products and have vendors donate door prizes.
• Other comments:
  • For future picnic, use other parks: in Brea, Fullerton, Placentia, or the public park near UCI that is level and easy access to parking and bathrooms.
  • Try to get support from service clubs such as Rotary Club and women’s clubs.
  • Try to get paying sponsors/vendors to defray costs; charge vendors a nominal fee to have a booth

• Website:
  • Have a link where stroke patients can write comments on ideas that have helped in their recovery.
  • Attendees mentioned some other resources: St. Judes and St. Joseph’s have patient gyms, Fullerton meridian health club has a warm pool, ADI (American Dog Institute), using links from ADRC (Aging and Disability Resource Center) and adding other rehab links.
  • Add stroke support groups locations
  • Also, to add links from vendors who can pay to be on website.
• Lecture on November 6, 2010
  • Ideas for topics
    • Pharmacology
    • Stroke recurrence prevention
    • Stem cell research
    • Spasticity management
    • Gaming in stroke rehabilitation
  • Have two separate tracks of lectures: one geared toward health professionals and the other for stroke patients/caregivers.
  • Schedule this event during non-working hours