Dave and Lorraine Renton were travelling in Tasmania in June, 2000 when Lorraine had a left-sided stroke. She was admitted to the local hospital at Burnie and two months later was transferred for rehabilitation to a centre in Geelong, close to their home in Ocean Grove, Victoria.

Dave spent his time while Lorraine was in rehab learning the ins and outs of her therapies to use when they eventually went home. The stroke affected Lorraine’s right side and left her with speech difficulties. She used a motorised wheelchair to get around but was restricted because the couple had no way to transport it.

“We didn’t go anywhere for 12 months, we were sort of stuck,” Dave says.

A year later a moment of genius struck Dave at 2am - black lead pencil in hand he wrote the basic plans for the disabled wheelchair he would call Carryit. Within a week, with the help a local engineering firm, it was built and they were off on holiday to a respite house in Merimbula. They could travel again at last.

The Carryit is a type of platform, like a big bike rack, that sits on the back of the car. The idea is simple, as good designs often are, and makes use of gravity and the weight of the wheelchair. The Carryit has a tilting ramp which the chair reverses up. The weight of the chair pushes the Carryit to a horizontal position and the ramp separates, tilts back on itself and is then secured by bolts.

The Carryit has “no electrics, no hydraulics,” says Dave. “It gravity-tilts and is loaded in 15 seconds.” Its checker plate aluminium manufacture means it is light weight and “there’s no maintenance and nothing to rust.”

It uses a Hayman Reese towbar (the square peg in square hole type) and can be fitted to almost any car. At the moment Dave has it fitted to his four- cylinder X-Trail and previously to his Commodore. The Carryit is wired for regulation tail lights and stop lights and requires registration in Victoria. Vicroads were unsure how to classify it.

“They hadn’t had anything like it before,’’ he says. “They eventually decided to call it a ‘tow-bar accessory’”. It requires a number plate and a once-only registration fee of $15.

The disabled wheelchair Carryit runs on a notfor- profit basis. Dave, along other volunteers, has supplied and fitted over 100 units for people with mobility limitation, including to caravans.

Dave, who has been a carer for over 10 years now, has this advice for other carers: “Take some time out doing something special, just for the carer. Carers need to take time out for themselves because it’s a tough job, it can be very stressful and depressing”.

Dave does this through the Surf Life Saving Club at Ocean Grove. He has been a member since 1966 and has never missed a patrol. A life member since 1984, he now rides the club’s surf skis (like a slim line kayak) and helps out with the children’s Nippers program. He is also involved in Disabled Surfers - which Lorraine has boldly tried!

For Carryit enquiries ring Dave Renton 0418 575 880 or visit www.disabledsurfers.org

Alison Bakker is a stroke survivor and sometime writer. She lives in Melbourne with her husband and two children, and works part-time as a registered nurse

Michael Fox is a busy chef. Having exceptional local and international experience he has recently commenced his first Head Chef role at Paul Mathis’ hot new restaurant, Henry & the Fox. Michael also happens to be the winner of The Age Good Food Guide Young Chef of the Year Award (2010) which is testament to his talent.

Michael took some time out of his busy schedule to tell us a bit about his cooking and his involvement with Food for Thought. He has also kindly shared a unique and intricate recipe that he has entered into his next challenge, the Electrolux Appetite for Excellence Awards.

This is the second year that you have chosen to support Food for Thought.
It was really good last year. It was great. I think all the chefs really loved it and it’s for a good cause. I try and do at least two charity events a year and stroke is very much a worthwhile cause. I lost my Grandma and my Poppa to stroke and on my Mum’s side her Grandma also passed away. Stroke is just horrendous, for example there are so many young people that are suffering from strokes and people don’t even know about it. So events like this are obviously beneficial.

What produce do you like to work with?
Probably seafood for me is good, especially given that Australia is surrounded by sea. Why not use the best of what we have got? In saying that, we definitely do the menu as per the season. We are starting to get that little bit cooler weather so more comfort food. We have just come out of summer with stuff that is really light; tomato and zucchini and the like. So our menu is definitely evolving and nothing is set in stone. We have a few signature dishes, one of which I will be doing on the night, which is a rabbit terrine. It’s not the sort of thing where at the start of spring we do a spring menu. It’s just how things come in. Like mushrooms came in the other week and we put them on the menu. So we change the menu regularly.

Is there a particular reason that you chose a rabbit dish?
Probably not my generation but the generation before got scarred by eating rabbit. You know; tough, chewy, bootleg rabbit that was cooked for five hours and still wasn’t nice. But I think these days we are producing lovely farmed rabbit and it is so tender. I think it definitely represents where I have come from and where I am going. Rabbit terrines and terrines in general: French cooking. But I think in this instance we are making it really jazzy. We have rhubarb compote and a rhubarb jelly. We are bringing a modern element to a classical dish.

You won The Age Good Food Guide Young Chef of the Year Award in 2010…
The springboard that the award has given me has been massive. It has been a crazy time and I am about to enter into Electrolux too which is a huge, huge thing. You go to state finals, then international finals in Italy… (See a recipe Michael has entered into the competition below)

When I am cooking I like to listen to songs like…
I Love It by Hilltop Hoods.

Henry & The Fox
525 Little Collins St, Melbourne
(03) 9614 3277
www.henryandthefox.com.au

Recipe: Spatchcock, veal sweetbread, celeriac, broccoli, chicken jus Serves 4

For the sauce
Chicken Stock
Ingredients
2kg chicken wings, chopped
3lt water
2 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
2 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled
5 thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
10 white peppercorns

Method
Place the chicken wings in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil, skim away any impurities that come to the surface. Reduce the heat to a simmer and add all the other ingredients. Continue to skim the surface on a constant basis to remove any fat that rises to the top. Simmer for 6 hours. Strain and refrigerate until required.

Brown Chicken Jus
Ingredients
500g chicken wings, chopped
100ml olive oil
2 shallots
2 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
5 white peppercorns
2lt chicken stock

Method
Place a large frying pan on a high heat. Add the olive oil, once it is near smoking point, add the chicken wings. Don’t over crowd the pan, as it will reduce the temperature. Do in two batches if necessary. Once the wings have caramelised, turn and continue the progress. Strain the fat and the place the wings along with the remaining ingredients in a small stockpot. Bring to the boil, skim the stock, and reduce to a simmer. Continue to simmer for 1 hour. Strain through a fine strainer and reduce to a sauce consistency.

Veal sweetbread and confit spatchcock sausage

Chicken mousse
Ingredients
250g chicken breast, cleaned and diced
½ tsp salt
1 egg
1 egg yolk
150ml cream

Method
Place the bowl of the food processor in the freezer for 30 minutes. This will help the mousse not to split
To make the mousse, blitz the chicken and the salt in the chilled food processor. Add the egg yolk followed by the whole egg, pulsing in-between. Add the cream in a steady stream. It should now be smooth and combined. Place into a bowl, cover with cling film and reserve in the fridge.

Confit Spatchcock leg
Ingredients
4 spatchcock legs
1 tbsp salt
5 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 garlic clove
5 white peppercorns
250g duck fat, melted

Method
Preheat the oven to 120°C. Place all ingredients (except the duck fat) in a bowl and mix together. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes so that the salt can start to penetrate into the legs. Place the legs into a small roasting tray, pour over the duck fat and cover with foil. Place in the oven and cook for 40 minutes or until the meat flakes away from the bone. Once cooked, remove the legs from the fat, and flake the meat into a bowl. Reserve in the fridge until required.

Assembling the sausage

Ingredients
100g veal sweetbreads, cleaned of sinew
1 tbsp olive oil
1 chicken mousse recipe
4 confit spatchcock leg meat
1 tbsp parsley chopped
1 egg, lightly whisked
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp panko breadcrumbs

Method
Place a large frying pan over a high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the olive oil and panfry the sweetbreads until golden brown on both sides. Remove from the pan and allow to cool. Once cooled, dice into ½cm pieces. In a bowl, mix together the chicken mousse, diced sweetbreads, leg meat, and chopped parsley. Lay out some cling film on the bench and spoon some of the mixture onto it. Roll the mixture up in the cling film like a sausage and tie both ends. Repeat until all the mixture is use up. Place a large pot of water on the stove and bring to a low simmer (85°C). Place the sausages in the water and cook for 12 minutes. Remove from the water, place on a tray, and place it in the fridge. Once the sausages have cooled, remove from the cling film. In three separate bowls, place the flour, egg, and breadcrumbs. Roll the sausages in the flour, followed by the egg, and finally the breadcrumbs. Place in the fridge.

For the Spatchcock Breast

4 Spatchcock Breast, skin removed and reserved
Salt (for seasoning)
250ml olive oil

Method
Place the olive oil in a small saucepan and heat over a low flame. With a thermometer, check the temperature of the oil (63°C is the perfect temperature). Once this is achieved, sprinkle the salt over the breast and place into the olive oil. Cook for 14 minutes. Remove from the heat, and place to the side.

For the chicken salt

The skin from the spatchcock breasts
½ tsp sea salt

Method
Preheat oven to 150°C. On a baking tray, lay out the skin so that it is flat. Place another baking tray over the top and cook in the oven for around 30 minutes or until the skin is golden brown. Remove from the oven, and place onto some paper towel to absorb the excess fat. In a mortar and pestle, place the drained skin and the sea salt. Pound until a powder is formed.

Broccoli Cous Cous

Ingredients
1 broccoli, Stem removed and reserved
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp currants
50ml port
1 orange, zested
1 tbsp pinenuts, toasted

Method
In a food processor, pulse the broccoli florets until in resemble coarse breadcrumbs then place to the side. In a small saucepan, bring the port to the boil and add the currants. Turn the heat off. Place a frying pan on a high heat; add the olive oil, then the broccoli crumbs and quickly sauté for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and place into a bowl. Mix in the strained currants, zest, and pine nuts. Season with salt.

Celeriac Puree

Ingredient
1 celeriac, peeled, roughly diced
250ml milk
50ml pouring cream

In a small saucepan, place the celeriac and the milk, and cook over a low heat until the celeriac is tender. Once cooked, strain the celeriac and place into a food processor. Add the cream and blitz until smooth. Season with salt.

Garnish Preparation

Broccoli stem, thinly sliced
Baby turnips
Olive oil
Sea salt
Baby red sorrel, cut (for presentation only)

Method

Bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil. Add the baby turnips and cook for 3 minutes or until tender. Strain and place into ice water to stop the cooking process. Once cooled, peel the skin with a small knife and cut into quarters.
Take the broccoli stem and place into boiling water to cook for 20 seconds. Strain and place into ice water to stop the cooking process. Once cooled, strain the ice water and mix the stem with the baby turnips. Drizzle with olive oil, and a pinch of sea salt.

Presentation

Preheat a deep fryer to 180°C. Deep fry the sausage until golden brown and cut into small bite size pieces.
Slice each of the poached spatchcock breasts into 4 pieces.
Spoon some broccoli cous cous on the plate and arrange the sliced breast and sausage on top. Spoon some of the celeriac puree and chicken jus around the plate, sprinkle some chicken salt over the breast. Finally garnish with the baby turnips, broccoli stem, and freshly cut baby red sorrel.

Hi, my name is Anna Hickey (Marketing and Publicity Coordinator at the Foundation) I thought I would take you through a bit of the behind the scenes action for Food for Thought Melbourne.

What is Food for Thought you ask? It is a key fundraising event on our calendar. It is an exclusive evening of fine dining. Or as we like to articulate: a feast for the senses – sight, sound, touch, smell and of course taste.

We have been running Food for Thought for the last three years and it is now held in Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart.

Melbourne is first-up this year and is set to be held on Thursday 24th May. We have had a wonderful response to this event and have sold out of tickets! What a brilliant outcome.  If you haven’t bought tickets to Melbourne have no fear, there is always Hobart (19th July) or Sydney (4th October).

We really do have some amazing chefs lined up for Melbourne. I have been busy over the last week or so interviewing them all. I can personally verify (on-top of their unbelievable credentials) that guests are set to experience a six course degustation bursting with creative culinary delights!

So who are the chefs?

Michael Fox Henry & The Fox
Mathew Hart Balgownie Estate
Riccardo Momesso Sarti Restaurant
Scott Pickett Estelle Bar & Kitchen
Nicolas Poelaert Embrasse Restaurant
Leigh Power Gingerboy

When you have a moment do check-out the chef’s respective websites, peruse their delicious menus and perhaps book a table for a special meal. I ducked out for lunch at Henry & The Fox last week with some colleagues and was delighted with the food that Michael Fox made. This is not surprising though given that he was awarded the The Age Young Chef of the Year (2011) award. I am looking forward to visiting the other restaurants for a meal soon.

I am thrilled to let you know that we are partnering with MiNDFOOD magazine as part of Food for Thought. MiNDFOOD note on their website they are a publication for: “Smart Thinkers - news, society, health and wellness, environment, culture, travel and food, shopping, lifestyle and much more”. I recommend that you follow them online for some great tips on life. I recently made a Chermoula Snapper Fillets with Fregola Salad. It is an autumn dish on their website. It was easy, delicious and fresh. Spot on.

In the lead up to the event we will be sharing; recipes and tips from the chefs, articles relating to senses from MiNDFOOD and a few more surprises along the way!

So as you can see, there are lots of exciting things in the mix at NSF.

Stay tuned for more Food for Thought updates.

If you have any questions please contact me on:ahickey@strokefoundation.com.au

Significant reforms announced to Australia’s aged care system will provide welcome relief to hundreds of thousands of stroke survivors and their families, National Stroke Foundation CEO Dr Erin Lalor said today.

Dr Lalor congratulated the federal Government on the Living Longer Living Better plan, which when implemented will provide a number of important changes to an area that has historically been complex.

Dr Lalor said in particular, the carers’ funding package, the increased number of home care packages, the new funding for dementia care and the single gateway to all aged care services represented dramatic improvement in a previously complex system.

“Stroke survivors and their carers tell us one of the most difficult aspects of stroke recovery and life after stroke is negotiating and accessing the aged care system,” Dr Lalor said.

“A single gateway to aged care services will centralise information about provision of care and entitlements and make it easier for people to find the support they need,” Dr Lalor said.

She said by boosting home care packages and carer funding, more people will be able to stay at home after a stroke.

Dr Lalor said research showed 74 per cent of stroke survivors go on to live at home with support and the majority lived with the support of a carer, generally a spouse.

The dementia care funding would also have significant benefits for stroke survivors and their families, as vascular dementia is a common complication of stroke.

Stroke is Australia’s second biggest cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability. While a stroke can occur to anyone at any time, only 20 percent of strokes happen to people under 55.

“These landmark reforms are greatly welcomed and the National Stroke Foundation looks forward to working with the federal Government on their implementation and ensuring they meet the needs of the community,” she said.

We partnered with Harvey Norman and AWASH for a cooking demonstration in Hobart for World Stroke Awareness Week 2012.  Here is a recipe that was cooked on the day.

Description:

Serves 2

An easy lamb recipe with two slow-release low GI carbs - lentils and yoghurt. You feel fuller for longer!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
few sprigs of fresh oregano
zest of 1 lemon
300g (10oz) lamb fillet or back strap

Dressing:

juice of 1 lemon
½ cup low fat natural yoghurt
freshly ground pepper, to taste

Salad:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 x 400g can brown lentils, drained
2 medium tomatoes, diced
35g (1oz) baby spinach leaves, shredded (leave out spinach of on blood thinning medication such as Warfarin)

Method

1. Combine the olive oil, garlic, oregano and lemon zest in a bowl. Add the lamb fillets or backstrap and marinate for at least 30 minutes. Brown the marinated lamb in a fry pan over medium-high heat or on the barbecue until just cooked. Remove, cover and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, combine the lemon juice with the yoghurt in a small jar, leaving aside a squeeze of the lemon juice. Add pepper. Put on the lid and shake to combine.
3. To make the salad, heat the olive oil in a fry pan over a medium heat and add the lentils, stirring till warm through. Add the tomatoes and spinach and a squeeze of lemon juice and stir to combine. Remove from the heat.
4. Slice the lamb across the grain about 1.5cm (3/4″) thick.
5. Spoon the lentil salad onto serving plates. Top with the sliced meat and pour over the dressing.

Additional Tips

Preparation time: 10 mins plus marinating time Cooking time: 15 mins

Nutrition per serve:

2452 kJ (584 calories), 31g fat (including 8g saturated fat), 16g carbohydrate (including 9g sugars), 7g fibre and 466mg sodium

Stroke is a condition that is often associated with older people, but anyone at any time can have a stroke, including babies and children. The causes for stroke in children are very different from those of adults.

Every year about two children in every 100,000 will have a stroke. Sometimes strokes occur in babies before they are born with an estimate of one newborn in every 2,300 – 5,000 having a stroke.

Here are some resources if your child has suffered a stroke. Childhood stroke (StrokeKidz and National Stroke Foundation) and Childhood stroke fact sheet (The Stroke Association UK).

Some families feel it is important that more people know about childhood stroke, they have told their stories.

Here is a video about Indiana and mum Tammy talking about her stroke.

Here is a link to Daisy Pritchard’s facebook group

What causes stroke in children?

The causes are poorly understood with little published research.

All strokes, regardless of age, are a result of disruption of blood going to or from the brain resulting in brain cells dying and permanent damage potentially occurring. The reason for this disruption may be different for children and adults.

A number of medical conditions can increase the chance of your child having a stroke. These include:

• Some types of heart disease or heart surgery
• Abnormal or inlamed blood vessels in teh brain
• Blood clotting problems
• Low blood count
• Central venous catherters
• Some types of cancer
• Recent major infections around the ear sinuses or nose
• Some viral infections (for example research has shown that chickenpox may cause ischaemic stroke in children)
• Head injury
• Dehydration
• Prolonged low blood pressure
• Brain tumours
• Other conditions such as sickle cell disease and thalassaemia.

About a quarter of all children who have had a stroke do not have any of these risk factors. It is unknown why these children have strokes.

Discuss with your doctor your child’s risk factors and the potential causes of the stroke.

Here are some more facts about stroke and children from Dr. Mark Mackay, Paediatric Neurologist, Children’s Neuroscience Centre, Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne.

In 2011, the National Stroke Foundation (NSF) Stroke Services team increased its capacity to focus more on education and resource development. One of our initial activities centred on improved adherence to the best-practice recommendations for lifestyle modification contained in the Clinical Guidelines for Stroke Management.

Lifestyle modification is an essential strategy to reduce the risk of secondary stroke. We evaluated the barriers to the provision and documentation of lifestyle advice post stroke and produced resources in consultation with a range of health professionals.

We developed the workshop ‘Motivational interviewing for lifestyle change after stroke’ with Dr Stan Steindl to provide motivational interviewing (MI) training. MI can help you deliver lifestyle modification advice that recognises your patient’s values, knowledge and desire to change.

The workshop lecture and a role play demonstrating MI in practice are now available on our website. We encourage you to watch these videos to learn more about this technique that has been shown to benefit patient mood and mortality post stroke.
This workshop is supported by a range of practical resources to aid your discussions with patients:

‘Help lower stroke risk with lifestyle modification’ clinical poster

‘Lifestyle modification discussion guide’

‘Documenting lifestyle modification advice’ information sheet

‘Meaningful patient engagement’ information sheet

‘Secondary stroke prevention: Addressing lifestyle risk factors and behaviour modification’ PowerPoint presentation

All of these resources are available here.