Advice and Support
A brain injury can affect you in many ways – physically, emotionally and how you think, learn and remember. You may have been recently discharged from hospital, or from your GP, and may be unsure about what to do next. Or you may have been living with the effects of a brain injury for a number of years and need advice on continuing support or care or information on where to meet with other people who have experienced similar injury.
Our Living Well team can provide low level emotional support and practical advice such as information about services available to you, where and how to access these. Also about the way in which services are funded.
Our services are open to anyone affected by an Acquired Brain Injury, an injury which happened after birth across East Sussex, Brighton & Hove and currently to parts of West Sussex where we want to extend further. We can however welcome people to our growing programme of online support groups.
The team can make initial contact with you to explore options and this may be followed by an assessment, usually at home. It is then possible to liaise with you and your family supporters or carers to talk through options available to you and to develop a tailored support plan and to funding options based on your individual needs and choices.
Living Well Support Groups
Contact Sam Shephard, Living Well Service Lead – 07776 528796
Our programme of specialist monthly support groups is for anyone affected by an acquired brain injury including family, friends, and unpaid carers. This is a growing programme of opportunities aiming to extend to more town communities as funding becomes available.
We know from experience that people rarely receive sufficient information to enable full understanding of what has happened to them, what they can do or what to expect in the future. The aim of the Support Group meetings is to provide opportunity to meet with others in similar situations and exchange information. Also, to receive specialist support from group facilitators, speakers and from each other in a relaxed, friendly, informal setting.
Clients find these support groups extremely helpful, and often new friendships are formed which provide an ongoing source of support. New group members are welcome to join a taster session. Some people prefer to join an online group whilst others prefer to go along to a face-to-face group.
Brain injury survivors are not the only ones to benefit – partners, relatives, parents and family or friend carers also attend to share experiences and provide mutual support to one another. Hearing and learning from the experiences of other family members can be extremely helpful.
If you are an interested professional able to volunteer your time Headway Sussex would be delighted to invite you along. We welcome external speakers and others who can offer expert support or volunteers willing to help. Professionals who are interested in understanding more about the impact of brain injury are also welcome.