About the Stroke Foundation – What we do
Stroke Foundation – Reducing risks, improving outcomes
The Stroke Foundation is the national organisation in New Zealand dedicated to reducing the incidence of stroke, improving treatment outcomes, and supporting those affected by stroke. The Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors. It has a National Office based in Wellington and three regional offices in Auckland (Northern Region), Tauranga (Midland Region) and Christchurch (Southern Region).
Our mission is to:
- save lives
- improve outcomes
- enhance life after stroke
Watch a short video about our exciting work in 2016 here.
Saving lives
We promote public awareness about the risk factors for stroke and how to recognise the symptoms.
- Blood Pressure awareness campaign – nationwide in October each year, in partnership with St John, Rotary, and Foodstuffs supermarkets.
- F.A.S.T. campaign – improving recognition of stroke symptom onset and immediate response
- Maori Health Advisor working with Maori health organisations and services to encourage stroke prevention policies and programmes
- Pacific stroke prevention programme in Auckland, working with Pacific communities to reduce the incidence of stroke
Improving outcomes
We focus on health service delivery to improve acute and rehabilitation hospital services and treatment outcomes.
Having established the national stroke clinical network we continue to co-ordinate its work. Currently there are several working groups including:
- rehabilitation
- thrombectomy (clot retrieval)
- thrombolysis
- nursing
Enhancing life after stroke
We represent the interests of stroke survivors and their families and work with them to enhance the quality of life of those affected by stroke.
- Community Stroke Advisor support: trained Community Stroke Advisors are available to help with any stroke-related problems. They make hospital and home visits, support families and can advise on accessing carer-relief services and funding. They discuss and develop a plan to meet a stroke survivor's current needs and to achieve their goals.
- Stroke clubs: meet regularly all over New Zealand to support people who’ve had a stroke and encourage them to take part in social activities.
- A Return to Work service in the Auckland region helps stroke survivors back to work
Watch our short video introducing the Community Stroke Advisor service:
Funding
The vast majority of our funding comes from donations and grants. Most of the remainder comes from government contracts.
Strategic Plan
Following amalgamation in July 2013 the Foundation undertook an extensive strategic planning exercise to ensure the direction of the new organisation would continue to tackle the most important areas for action and would be responsive to changing social, medical and political environments. You can download a copy of the plan in either PDF format (for most computer types) or ePub format (best on iPad).
