The recent report from the Social Service Providers Aotearoa highlighted the funding shortfall from the Government for community social services. But the health sector should not be overlooked; the Stroke Foundation of New Zealand receives most of its funding from donors rather than Government subsidies.

The Stroke Foundation offers a free service to stroke survivors through their Community Stroke Advisor (CSA) programme. This is the only national programme providing ongoing support to both those affected by stroke and their families, to re-establish life after stroke. CSAs help survivors to develop a plan and set goals to achieve, provide education and advocacy and offer emotional support. They are a fundamental part of the Stroke Foundation, offering critical support for those in recovery.

The Foundation has seen that 70 per cent of stroke survivors that worked with CSAs left the programme because they achieved their goals.

On average, full time CSAs have an active workload of 67 clients and at current rates, they are supporting a further 19 new referrals every month. However, given that the Government contracts only contribute 24 per cent of the actual costs of providing the CSA service, the Stroke Foundation is subsidising the Government’s responsibilities.

“A large proportion of our donations support the ongoing work of our CSA service, but with appropriate funding, we could do a better job at supporting more people and helping them to reach their goals.” Explained Mark Vivian, CEO of the Stroke Foundation of New Zealand.

“We’re putting a lot of work into our recovery resources and seeing the success, but the reality is that the Foundation has to provide 76 per cent of funding. With more Government funding, we’d be able to make better gains around stroke prevention and help people avoid having a stroke.”

Each year approximately 9,000 New Zealanders suffer from a stroke and research shows that within the next decade this is projected to rise by 40%. Putting more funding behind stroke prevention efforts will allow the Foundation to work at lowering this figure.

For more information, please visit: https://www.stroke.org.nz/

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