Five days a week Mr Dean joins with other stroke survivors in going for a walk, catching up for coffee or playing carpet bowls at the centre — a place he says is like a second home.
“When you go to hospital after a stroke you get really looked after but when you come out there’s no place you can go,” he said.
“To go to the stroke group and mix with people with the same [experience] — it’s really helped me and gets me out of my depression.”
The stroke centre in Shepparton is one of five around the state run by the Stroke Association of Victoria in a pilot program funded by the Victorian Government.
But that funding is set to end in June 2023, with an evaluation of the program to follow in October to determine its future.
“The government is continuing to fund the Shepparton Stroke Support Centre for a pilot program to assist stroke centres with rehabilitation, adapting to life changes and wider care and support stroke survivors may need,” a government spokesperson said.
“In line with the contractual agreement, the stroke support centre pilot program will be evaluated in October 2023, and ongoing funding will be re-assessed then in line with usual practice.”
Stroke Association of Victoria chief executive Tom Pagonis said the project aimed to bring people out of their homes after COVID-19, address isolation and depression, and build up confidence to re-enter the workforce.
“I do feel really sad that in a region like [Shepparton] where people have worked really hard that it’s going to end up where it is in June,” he said.
“If you’ve got something that’s working and which is quite cost efficient, why would you close it?”
Shepparton group member Sue Dorsett had only joined a week before she found out it was closing, and said she was devastated.
She said the group had received another 12 referrals since she’d joined, demonstrating the level of demand.
“When you have a stroke, it affects your confidence and it’s quite isolating — it’s just somewhere to go and get out of the house,” she said.
“Everyone has got similar issues and you can chat about your experiences and there’s no judgment.”
There are five stroke centres in regional Victoria and SAV had a plan to expand the program into nine other sites.
The bid it put to the state government was for just over $3.1 million, and attempts to secure grants and philanthropic funding elsewhere were mostly unsuccessful.
“To say we could lose this, I don’t know what we’re going to do, I’ll miss it,” Mr Dean said.
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