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The Friends of Community Head Injury Service - Helping the NHS support people with acquired brain injury in and around Buckinghamshire.

The Friends where established to support the Community Head Injury Service in ways that are not funded through normal NHS funds. This has included the development of rehabilitation support involving tehnology to help people with the challenges they have. This includes using a range of applications on tablets and smartphones depending on the individual neeeds of clients.

Community head injury service (CHIS) - What is it and what does it do?

Supporting people with acquired brain injury in and around Buckinghamshire

If you, a family member or a close friend are experiencing difficulties following a head injury or other form of acquired brain injury and live in or around Buckinghamshire, then the Community Head Injury Service may be able to help. 

Assistance could be early after hospital discharge, during the early months and years of recovery or in response to difficulties in adjusting to the long-term effects of brain injury. 

Our clients

Our core assessment, rehabilitation and family services are available to adults (aged 16 and above) with traumatic brain injury (head injury) and other forms of generalised brain injury such as cerebral hypoxia, encephalitis and meningitis. They are also available for people with other forms of acquired brain injury, such as stroke, subarachnoid haemorrhage and cerebral tumour, whose needs are best met by this service. 

‘Working Out’, our brain injury vocational rehabilitation programme, helps adults (aged 16+) to return to work and retain their jobs after all forms of acquired brain injury (including stroke, subarachnoid haemorrhage and cerebral tumour).

The CHIS team

The service is provided by an inter-disciplinary brain injury team including clinical neuropsychology, nurse specialist, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, rehabilitation medicine, speech and language therapy, work placement consultant and a family specialist. The team is supported by therapy assistants and administrative support. 

The CHIS service

The service provides specialist person-centred, goal-directed community brain injury rehabilitation, facilitated by a key worker, across three linked services:

1.    Core brain injury assessment and rehabilitation programmes  

Core rehabilitation programmes may include a combination of individual therapy (clinical psychology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, rehabilitation medicine, nursing, speech and language therapy) and specialist brain injury group programmes (e.g. educational, cognitive, communication, psychological support and woodwork groups). 

2.    ‘Working Out’ - brain injury vocational rehabilitation programme

Working Out provides specialist brain injury vocational assessment, work preparation, work trials, supported placements and job retention interventions. This may involve a combination of individual work and specialist group programmes (i.e. work preparation group; community vocational rehabilitation activities; job club; placement support group). 

3.    Family services 

Family services include carer counselling, relatives’ brain injury educational programme, follow-up workshops and couple/family counselling.

Access

Services are delivered in the Camborne Centre, Aylesbury, at home and in a variety of other community locations, including the workplace, depending on the needs of the client.