A grant from our Public Health Accelerator Bids (PHAB) programme is improving support for patients with acquired brain injuries in Essex.
Headway Essex provides advice and practical assistance to adults with an acquired brain injury (ABI), as well as their families and carers. Working across Essex, the charity provides day services, activities and support in the community.
To extend the support it offers, the charity applied for a grant through our PHAB major grants programme.
The £65,308 grant has introduced a new hospital link-worker role and a 'What Happens Next after ABI’ booklet. It has also helped the charity introduce general health reviews and health goal planning at its day centres and support groups.
This new support is already making an impact.
One patient, a woman in her 50s, was referred to Headway by her local hospital’s stroke unit.
Prior to her stroke, she was working as a teacher. However, she now suffers difficulties with her speech. She was worried this would prevent her from returning to work and also affect her ability to look after her son, 21, who has autism.
Headway visited the woman in the hospital and offered support on discharge. Through its community support service, the charity equipped her with a brain injury identity card. She can show this card so that people understand she has difficulty with speech and needs more patience and assistance.
She is also attending the charity’s “Brain Injury and Me” education programme. She is already becoming more confident and has established some good peer support with the other attendees.
Without Headway’s intervention on the ward, she may not have had the confidence to step out and seek support.
Emma McCullagh, Head of Brain Injury Services at Headway Essex, said:
The funding we received has significantly improved the services at Headway Essex.
It enables us to provide detailed information and timely support to individuals with a brain injury, helping them access the right services when needed.
Our health reviews have also been invaluable in educating people about stroke prevention and the importance of brain health.
PHAB funds projects which aim to improve the mental and physical health of Essex residents.
Councillor John Spence, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care and Integration, said:
The PHAB programme is all about helping residents who are facing major challenges in life and tackling the health inequalities we know exist in our communities. It’s therefore great to hear about the difference this grant is making to the support Headway Essex provides to patients with a brain injury in Essex.
Just as importantly, it is another example of the close working between the council and voluntary sector, which is vital to the sustainability of this type of discretionary social care programme. Working with a super charity like Headway excites me on a number of levels.
Find out more about PHAB.
