Austin Tooze is a Cognitive Rehabilitation Assistant with BIS Services. Here, he discusses his role, the positive impact it can make on a client’s life, and the professional and personal opportunities for development it brings
I have been working for BIS Services full time as a Rehabilitation Assistant (RA) for approximately ten months now. It is definitely one of the most challenging, insightful, humbling and rewarding roles that I have ever taken up, and definitely beats being in the trenches in A&E where I was in my previous role.
Life as an RA with BIS services is no easy feat. To be an RA it takes discipline, planning and a significant amount of patience. It also requires you to constantly to be on your toes to react to any safeguarding and risk scenarios that clients may face in their lives.
As an RA, it is important to also recognise that no brain injury is the same. Every client must be treated differently. One type of rehab goal/ technique may not always be applicable to every client. This therefore highlights the fact that as an RA, you must be adaptable to every situation and react to anything that may come your way. It’s also important to know that you will not have a plan for everything, further highlighting my point earlier that you must be on your toes.
You will be a key member of an MDT that will be on the ground spending the most time with the client. BIS Services offer substantial supervision with your line managers to talk about your progress and your feelings, but also further supervision with Dr Ashworth, who gives a clinical approach and understanding into being an RA. Not to mention other supervisions with the MDT, and MDT meetings that you attend to further update on the progress and status of a client in their case. This also allows RAs to have their say and input into the MDT.
Being part of the MDT is interesting and rewarding as you are a key member of a client’s journey and helping them reach their end goal.
As an RA, you tend to come across clients and other people who come from all different upbringings, backgrounds and cultures. This one of the many benefits of being an RA; you get to experience many different cultures and develop a more open mind and outlook towards the world.
More often than not, you get to learn something new from clients when you are supporting them in their rehab. I have found this to be a very humbling experience and teaches you to accept everyone for who they are and empathise with clients, which can also be applicable in everyday life.
One of the most important parts of being an RA, is to act as the damaged part of the brain. For example, this would consist of being the frontal lobe of the brain, always prompting, prompting and more prompting. I am sure the clients lose their patience with us RAs! All jokes aside, this is a vital part of the role as it constantly engages their frontal lobe and allows clients to become more independent in their daily lives. Another key role of being an RA, developing client independence.
A day usually starts with checking my emails to see if there has been any update with a client. This could be either an update with the status of their case, safeguarding, disclosures, or any other leisure activities. Like I said before, no day is the same as an RA, neither for the client! This allows the MDT to all be on the same page and anything else regarding the client is addressed.
RAs often plan for sessions for the week as much as possible. While working with clients with brain injuries, it is entirely possible that not everything goes to plan. However, it is best to devolop structure for clients and yourselves to allow sessions to go as smooth as possible. Sessions could range from supporting clients, to getting to and from appointments as part of their case and recovery to independence, to doing fun activities with clients.
If you are thinking about becoming an RA, it is important to reflect on your work and measure your own progress. I know for sure that I am not the same RA as I was ten months ago. I have learnt so much, but there is so much more to learn as you work with different clients and from other professionals you work with.
As an RA, you often deal with difficult scenarios with clients whether it is how they are living or something significant has happened in their lives. This can sometimes take a toll on an RA’s feelings and emotions, and I believe it is important to reflect on those feelings and rationalise them and always remember that you are human. BIS are very supportive when it comes to staff welfare. They provide a staff wellness scheme where it gives RAs to voice their feelings and emotions. It is important to keep yourself in check.
