Stroke survivors, families urged to attend event

Stroke is New Jersey’s No. 3 cause of death and a leading cause of serious, long-term disability. We work with some of New Jersey’s stroke survivors on a daily basis and see both the devastating impact of stroke on survivors, their families and caregivers, and the hope of new diagnosis options, treatments and recovery from stroke.

A stroke can strike anyone, young or old. The American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, says that at least 700,000 people experience a new or recurrent stroke annually. Close to 4.6 million stroke survivors are alive today in this country, including nearly 2.4 million female stroke survivors. At all ages more women than men die from stroke.

As New Jersey health care professionals working in the field of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases, and as American Stroke Association volunteers, we urge all New Jersey stroke survivors to attend the American Stroke Association’s third annual New Jersey Life After Stroke conference on Saturday, Nov. 15. The event is one of the only conferences of its kind in New Jersey, offering stroke survivors up-to-date information on treatment, prevention and life-after-stroke issues. The conference features general session presentations and breakout sessions and is open to all stroke survivors, family members and caregivers of stroke patients throughout the Garden State.

During the past two years stroke survivors and caregivers from Bergen County to Cape May County, from New York and Pennsylvania have attended the conference. The event is being hosted by the Busch Campus Center at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Piscataway. There is life after stroke. Survivors and their family members and caregivers will walk away with valuable information, resources and plenty of new friends.

Please join us at the American Stroke Association New Jersey Life After Stroke conference on Nov. 15. For more information and reservations, call the state office of the American Heart Association at (732) 821-2610.

Patricia Gossett, M.S.N., R.N.

Mary Jo SantoPietro, Ph.D.

Task Force Volunteers

American Stroke Association Operation Stroke