Opinion
Kate Allatt, stroke survivor and GripAble ambassador, unpicks the concept of social prescribing, explains why it is an important part of the stroke and brain injury recovery process, and describes how GripAble is working to connect people and facilitate peer-to-peer support to help them flourish. Being discharged from hospital following a life-changing event such as a stroke [...]
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unique challenges for people living with dementia, as well as for those who support them. Tracey Carter, senior quality manager (dementia care) at Exemplar Health Care, shares how colleagues across the company have found innovative ways to support people living with dementia to stay safe and well, and uphold the principles of person-centred care
It’s vital that health and social care workers, other professionals and family carers continue to take a person-centred approach to care during the pandemic, to support people with dementia to maintain, and enhance, their health and wellbeing. Putting people first There are currently around 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK, each with their own unique personalities and life stories. Everyone will experience the pandemic and its effects differently, which is why it’s important to maintain a person-centred approach.
After Vasili Kalisperas was born a healthy baby, his jaundice was left undetected by midwives and led to him being left with cerebral palsy and needing round-the-clock care. Here, his mum Elena discusses the huge mental health challenges of being a parent in such a position and how she learned to admit it’s OK not to be OK
I’ve always been a very optimistic and positive person, which I do think helps during such traumatic times, but that’s definitely not to say it hasn’t been a struggle. As equipped as you might be in terms of your outlook on life to deal with challenges, when something so traumatic happens to you, it is of course going to be a struggle to come to terms with that.
Having contracted COVID-19, which has now become Long COVID, assistant neuropsychologist Alarna continues to battle a number of effects, including fatigue. Here, she shares her reflections on her experience, which has enabled her to gain a greater understanding of her patients' wish to return to their 'normal selves'
My name is Alarna, and I am an assistant neuropsychologist at a specialist private neuro rehab hospital. I have worked in both supported living and rehabilitation settings for the past 14 years, with various mental health conditions, psychologically rooted illnesses, degenerative diseases, and rare neurological presentations.
Today in discussion with our company director responding to the question of “How are you?” I found that I had reached a new level of understanding for every patient that I had worked with. I found on some level I could identify with their journey as I am attempting to rehab myself. I answered, “I just want to get back to my normal self”.
Writing for HT World, Brian O’Shea, continuing healthcare advisor at the Spinal Injuries Association, urges commissioners to embrace change for the good of the patient.
Merryn Dowson, of rehab goal-setting platform Goal Manager, on why the virtual conference should endure long after COVID-19’s limitations are gone.
Just in case you hadn’t noticed, the last year has been a little bit different from previous years and by ‘different’ I, of course, mean ‘online’.
Conferences have been no exception. Instead of arriving at a large hall, picking up the first of the day’s seven coffees and scanning the room for the best pens on offer, we are finishing off our morning routines and setting our out-of-office email only to sit in the same chair and log in to an online virtual conference.
In March we may have hoped that these conferences would actually happen in person and that the world would quickly get back on its axis but we soon realised that this would not be the case.
We were to access it all from our computers, perched wherever we can manage in our homes.
In August, I had my first taste of this unprecedented, socially- distanced, new-normal approach to conferences by logging on to that of the American Psychological Association (APA).
NR Times reports on a new rehabilitation approach taking place in Cambridgeshire.
Despite a year of relentless change and upheaval for all involved in neuro-rehab, one provider in Cambridgeshire has been able to keep its ongoing development on track.
In a former life in newspapers, it was at this time of year that the dreaded churn of annual reviews and previews came... Ups and downs of the months gone by and ill- informed soothsaying for the year ahead served only to plug the festive news glut. Pity the junior reporter seeking their highlights of 2020. This year feels less a series of chronological news events and more a mighty tempest that has shaken our entire reality off course.
By David Withers, partner at Irwin Mitchell.
In serious injury cases, the parties can often disagree about whether an injured person has a need for a hydrotherapy pool. The installation, and subsequent maintenance, costs of a hydrotherapy pool are significant. This is often one of the most contentious heads of loss that arises in a serious injury case. Legal position In tort, the principle of “restitution in integrum” applies. This means that insofar as is possible the injured person should be put back in the position that they would have been in but for the negligence [see Livingstone – v – Rawyards Coal Co (1980) 5 App Cas 25]. This is often known as the full compensation principle.
Natalie Mackenzie, of BIS Services, has worked with 'James' since 2002. In fact, he was one of her earlier clients in her career. She is immensely proud of the challenges he has overcome; not all of the effects of the accident have been surmounted, but none the less he has exceeded many expectations of medical professionals, with a will of iron and an exceptional talent that is finally being acknowledged. Here she shares the experience.
James is not defined by his brain injury, but his experiences and the challenges of his TBI have moulded his work and the individual we now see. As we are all aware, living with a severe TBI is a lifelong journey, and I still support Jim in the community, and have continued to do so whilst he has travelled around the world, through the now ‘normal’ virtual rehabilitation.
I have watched his art bring meaning and focus to his daily life, encouraging a motivation and structure that is always needed for individuals like James managing their cognition. Although there remain issues with some areas of function, James has learnt, consolidated and implemented a toolbox of strategies that support him to pursue his passion and bring joy to others.
It has been a pleasure to work with someone as driven as James, and I have seen him take a turbulent journey through his recovery, which I am sure many professionals in the field can relate with.
Five brain injury professionals spanning dietetics, case management, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy share what they've learnt from to shift to virtual therapy.
At the start of the pandemic, many statutory rehab services were redeployed, and some independent therapy teams closed or therapists moved back into frontline work within the NHS and community. A group of private therapists in the North West of England started keeping in touch on social media and in weekly group support sessions to share their fears and concerns, and identify the strengths that helped them survive in such challenging times.
