Our Community Rehabilitation teams will work with you and provide you with an individually designed programme to meet your needs. The goal is to offer you the opportunity to become as independent as possible in the community.
These outreach programmes try to make it easier for people to take part in social, leisure, recreational and vocational activities in the community.
What is Community Rehabilitation?
Headway’s Community Rehabilitation service aims to
- Make it easier for you to take part in social, leisure, recreational and vocational activities in your own community
- To support you to become more independent in your daily life.
- To increase your ability to live or work independently in your own community following acquired brain injury.
We have community rehabilitation services available in Dublin, Cork and Mid-West (Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary). A specific vocational rehabilitation service is available in Cork. We also offer some vocational support in Dublin.
“The programme helped give me the confidence to get back out into society on my own again. I probably wouldn’t have been able to do it without the support of Headway.”
What does Community Rehabilitation offer?
- It encourages people affected by Acquired Brain Injury to reorganise their lives and to recognise opportunities to participate in their local communities.
- We do this by focusing on the person’s interests and helping them to set achievable goals.
- We give the person affected support and guidance throughout the process.
- The service provides them with a chance to meet other people also affected by Brain Injury. People can find this peer support very helpful in their recovery process.
What are the benefits of Community Rehabilitation?
| Education | Helps people to get the information they need to make more informed choices and decisions that are right for them. Allows people to explore a variety of educational options to learn new skills or strengthen existing ones. |
| Social | Helps people to discover a wide range of social outlets to meet their needs. Assists people to build and maintain good relationships. Strengthens and builds connections between people, groups and organisations. Enables people to participate in and give something back to their own communities. |
| Finance | Offers information and guidance on social welfare entitlements and allowances. Links people to appropriate professionals, if needed. For example, Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) or the National Advocacy Service. |
| Health | Provides opportunities to do activities which may improve both physical and psychological health and well-being, through increased activity and developing a sense of meaningful purpose. |
Individual Approach
Following an initial assessment, we work with you one to one, to help you clarify and set your own goals. Then we support you in overcoming any challenges you face in achieving them. The service works by supporting you to gradually develop the confidence you may need to overcome barriers that prevent you from achieving your chosen goal.
Our staff will provide you with practical and emotional support and information and help you to:
- Research and identify local opportunities for activity, training or employment.
- Practice the skills you will need to undertake the activity.
- Assist you to get going with your chosen activity.
- Identify any problems that arise and work with you on resolving them.
At every stage, the staff are available to offer practical assistance, encouragement and ongoing support.
As your confidence develops and you become more independent in your chosen activities, the level of support you need from the service will decrease but the staff are still available for you to contact if you need.
“I love the feeling of having something to get up for every Monday morning. The girls in the shop are great, and I have a real laugh with them. It has given me a structure to my week, and while sometimes I find it tiring, I know it is important for my emotional well-being to be active during the day. I didn’t have the confidence to try volunteering by myself, so it was great having Headway staff set it up for me.”
Range of Activities
We offer support for a wide range of activities, whether this is just getting out and about outside the home or for activities that require a greater level of independence such as taking up further training, volunteering or employment.
The type of activities offered will depend on what is available to you locally, but some examples of activities that we have helped people undertake have been:
Gym attendance; Travel training; Computer classes, Work experience placements; Money management; Shopping; Home-based activity, e.g. Cookery; Darts/bowls/snooker; Further education; Going to the cinema; Using restaurants/coffee shops; Using the Internet; Job searching; Interview skills; Volunteering; CV writing; Aqua Aerobics; Assisting with Social Welfare payments, Clients Rights and Responsibilities; Brain Injury Education to Employers; Housing entitlements; Excursions; Walking; Soccer, Boccia, Boat Building and Headway Social Club
The type of activities that you do will be those that you choose yourself based on your own interests and goals. Some people can find it hard to identify interests and goals to pursue after brain injury due to changes in ability or perspective. We will help you to explore new interests and goals that will be the best fit and most meaningful for you.
“I am now able to travel on my own and not rely on the support of my family. That was a big thing for me! I felt like I was a burden on them as I was relying on them for a lot of things but now I can do it on my own.”
Who can apply for Community Rehabilitation Services?
Participants must have an acquired brain injury and must be aged 18 to 65. For further information on Headway’s entry criteria and how to apply, click here.