A new peer support programme will bring together brain injury survivors with people who have experience of helping to rebuild their own family after such trauma.
SameChat Buddy Programme has been created by SameYou to create new levels of support and mutual understanding for survivors and loved ones, creating a forum for them to tell their story and share experiences with people who understand, while also helping to build relationships to help combat loneliness and isolation.
The six-month pilot project brings together 10 sets of buddies – ten brain injury or stroke survivors, with ten loved ones – in a new approach to traditional peer support which is part of a Proof of Concept approach to investigate new levels of potential interventions.
The buddies will have monthly sessions, in person or via video call, to share experiences and insight and help develop a relationship which is set to be beneficial on both sides.
There is also an advisory board of survivors to share their lived experience in support of the longer-term development of the project.
The programme sees SameYou working alongside brain injury specialists at Sphere Rehab to carry out research on an ongoing basis to see whether the scheme is delivering benefits and assess what works and what does not, with a view to helping inform future support for survivors and loved ones alike.
Initially a UK pilot, SameYou – the pioneering brain injury charity established by actor Emilia Clarke – believes this new approach could be introduced globally in the longer-term.
The idea for the Buddy Programme came from survivor feedback, both at SameYou and Sphere Rehab, and was several months in the planning before its launch in January.
“We were hearing all the time that people would have really liked someone to speak to during their recovery who had been through that same process, who had been in the same shoes. And that really got our brains ticking, as there was clearly a gap there,” says Clare Roberts, communications lead at SameYou.
“When we came up with this idea for the Buddy Programme, and we were asking people to be buddies, we didn’t know what the response would be. But every single one of them said how much they wished there had been something like this for them.
“We know the feeling of giving back benefits your recovery, which is long-term and ongoing, and the Buddy Programme is really helping survivors to feel this. They are helping others by doing this, as well as being given a voice and a platform to tell their story.”
The programme was devised as a Proof of Concept study, with research determining its efficacy and helping to influence the future of the project beyond this initial six months.
“We are essentially carrying out qualitative analysis throughout the journey to find out what they are using their time together for? What are they finding helpful, what is missing?,” says Katherine Dawson, consultant clinical neuropsychologist and director of Sphere Rehab.
“It is important we have this analysis, to support what we hear from clients directly. Survivors have therapists, but that is really different to peer to peer support. There is no feeling that you’ve got to perform or reach goals, which I think is absolutely critical.
“Sometimes that comes with a pressure on the rehab side, but just talking to someone about their journey – what has been helpful, what hasn’t been helpful, what have they struggled with? – just having that space to share, can be of great value.
“Loneliness and isolation is one of the biggest risk factors for brain injury survivors, as time since their injury increases. But by being part of a project with a sense of meaning, we hope it will help with the post-traumatic growth that we see after a catastrophic life-changing event. It enables people to re-evaluate and almost reconnect with life.
“By approaching it as a research project and having thematic analysis, we can gather the evidence that will then enable us to scale up. We can be creative in harnessing the resources that people have and play to their strengths, and building a model that can support people around the world.
“This is a very exciting project to be involved in and we look forward to seeing how it takes shape in the months ahead.”
