November 02, 2007

A Stroke of Therapy

Stroke survivors take to golf course with help of Genesis, W. Illinois Univ. students

DAVENPORT, IOWA - Jim Carron figured his golfing days were over when he had a stroke more than a decade ago.

For the past month, however, the Bettendorf golfer has been out on the course and giving his fellow stroke survivors glimpses of the skill that once came so easily. He has been spending Tuesday mornings golfing at Red Hawk Golf Course in Davenport as part of a collaborative effort of Genesis Outpatient Rehabilitative Services, the Genesis Stroke Prevention & Recovery Center and Western Illinois University – Quad Cities.

“I was a good golfer before my stroke,” Carron says, as university student Dan Adcock accompanies him and holds a belt around his waist to give Carron support. “I tried doing this several years ago, but I got out on the course and couldn’t do much.”

Recently, Carron has seen more success. He can take his time and return to his beloved sport – all while surrounded by people who understand the highs and lows of rehabilitating after a stroke.

On a windy day in October, Carron is doing more than having fun. He’s improving his range of motion, strength, balance and endurance. He’s also giving practical experience to his “buddy” Dan Adcock, a student in the university’s Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration program.

“Golf is an excellent sport to assist people recovering from stroke because they can work on improving balance, shifting weight from one side of their body to the other, and transferring from sitting to  standing. Holding and swinging a golf club is also great for working on grip and strength in their affected hand and arm,” says recreational therapist Doug Boleyn, CTRS, who is Manager of Genesis Outpatient Rehabilitative Services.

“A big part of treating a stroke is havingv individuals perform a movement repetitively to help them improve their ability to use their arms, hands and legs again. If we can help them do that through something they enjoy, like golf, they can experience tremendous benefit.”

The initiative also has helped university associate professor Dr. Marcia Jean Carter, CTRS, bring practical experience to her students. “Students today are very visual and hands-on – not as much into textbooks,” she says. “This kind of experience gives them the opportunity to do actual assessment; identify the needs and abilities of the participants; and, carry that out in written documents that we use in care planning. It makes the class much more interactive.“

Kayla Wolfe, a Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration student, says it’s important to keep participants safe but also to give them room to build confidence and exert their independence. “My job is to help them achieve their goals,” she says. “We observe how they improve from week to week but also are here as a motivator and a socializer.”

That socialization is as important as the physical strides, Boleyn says. “We hope that after golfing with us over the past month, they now feel more comfortable participating in other community activities, such as going out to dinner or to the grocery store. When they resume their community interests, they are forced to physically move their body more. That improves their overall strength; elevates their mood; and ultimately decreases the likelihood that they will spend their days sitting at home and end up hospitalized again due to becoming debilitated.”

Bill Penix of Muscatine had a hemorrhagic stroke two years ago. After that, the first time he tried to golf brought him frightening results: He fell over.

His involvement in the Genesis Stroke Prevention and Recovery Center (SPARC) prompted him to try golfing again, with the security of having experts nearby to help. He has occasional aphasia, trouble finding the right words and pronouncing them. He also has minor motor muscle problems on his right side. Thanks to the support of student Nate Nichols, he isn’t as worried about falling.

“Nate has been very good about helping me with my balance,” Penix says. ”At first, I was very, very fearful about falling over again. It makes me feel accomplished that people are working to help me in the areas that I want to work on and even the areas that I don’t like to work on, such as maintaining control.”

During the golf sessions, a Genesis physical therapist noticed that Penix needed work on his vestibular exercises to overcome imbalance and stimulate the balance sensors in his inner ear. That information  was relayed to his physical therapist in Muscatine, he said. “It feels good,” Penix says.” Everyone is working together to make me better.”

Alicia Owens, SPARC coordinator, says it’s gratifying to see the progress. “A daughter of one of the participants said to me: ‘I never dreamt my dad would be back on the golf course after his stroke.’ Just for him to be driving a golf cart and hitting the ball again, even on the short course, meant a lot. It affirms to people that they can get back to some normalcy in their life after a stroke.”

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