U.S Republican Senator Mark Kirk has outlined a “stroke agenda” which aims to set a national standard of care for stroke survivors, giving them an expanded access to top-quality rehabilitation and enabling them to get back to work.
The Illinois senator participated in the fundraiser program for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago by climbing a stairway at the Willis Tower on Sunday. It is the same institute where he had undergone physical therapy after surviving a stroke in 2012.
After his stroke two years ago, the senator has worried about the conditions of other patients even if he was given better care than them.
He is now drafting a legislation to standardize the procedures for stroke rehab and expedite the patients’ recovery so he could go back to work.
“If we set a national goal of returning stroke patients to work as I have been able to do, we will serve our country very well with those 300,000 Americans all back at work with all of the upside of personal worth and better psychology that comes from returning to work,” said Kirk to CBS.
Kirk, 54, was one of the 3,000 participants in the SkyRise Chicago event held at its 103-story Willis Tower. It’s a stair-climb fundraising event for Chicago’s Rehabilitation Institute. The event aims to push patients harder than traditionally-available therapy program to see if it will lead to a quicker recovery. Last year, the senator successfully climbed 37 stories at Willis Tower. On Sunday, he was able to beat his previous record by climbing 41 stories of the same edifice.
Kirk has expressed that all patients of stroke should have a chance to redeem their position at work and lamented the fact that only around one third of them was able to do so.
President and CEO Dr. Joanne Smith of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago said that the "stroke agenda" needs to discuss several things for it to be successful. According to NBC Chicago, these are resources, expertise and ignorance on the benefits of rehabilitation which vary widely across the country.
