Brain Injury SA utilises an interdisciplinary team approach to assisting people identify suitable directions for employment when individuals identify this as a goal.
This may include both identifying potential directions through vocational exploration, defining more precisely strengths and limitation in employment post injury, growing capacity for work, and developing ways to communicate with potential employers.
As an organisation we recognise the importance of creating internal opportunities to support people with brain injury develop pathways to employment, and we have been thrilled to host two people to complete their placement experience in certificates of disability care. Additionally, we continue to foster external collaboration with employers who can allow people to test their work capacity and develop their skills.
The Employ Me project has been an exciting initiative in collaboration with Brain Injury Association of Tasmania, to further trial their video-based approach to confidence and capacity building for individuals to pursue employment and/or educational opportunities.
Employ Me Project
Brain Injury SA is excited to be partnering with Brain Injury Tasmania to deliver their innovative new project Employ Me, to people with acquired brain injury (ABI) in South Australia.
The Employ Me Project is centred around capacity building, which results in a tailored video for each participant.
The video provides participants the opportunity to:
- Discuss their employment interests, skills and experience;
- Disclose how their brain injury and/or disability impacts them; and
- Establish their expectations of any employment-related supports they may require.
For employers, the videos provide an insight into how an individual may fit into their work environment, and an understanding of any work-place adjustments that may be required.
Although the video is an important output, feedback from participants indicates that employment exploration tasks were an equally important part of the process.
Identified benefits included:
- Refining participants’ ideas of work opportunities that would interest them;
- Building confidence, including meeting new people and visiting new and different places;
- Considering how participants want people to interact with them;
- Building work skills and life skills;
- Determining the level of disclosure about their brain injury and/or disability they are comfortable with; and
- Identifying any workplace supports they may require to make employment successful.
To date, 13 people have participated in the program, with half of these completing their video, and 6 participants have gained employment as part of the project.
Support for Success
In November 2021 we were able to offer a placement for our participant Teagan who had completed her Certificate III in Community Services and needed a hands-on placement opportunity to achieve her certificate.
Teagan worked alongside our Allied Health Assistants (AHA) to shadow them in their roles and to aid in the development of skills. She also successfully facilitated the Southern catch-up group as part of her placement. Teagan has now received her qualification and is working in the Employ Me project to improve her chances of employment in her chosen field.
Towards the end of the financial year, we also set-up another placement for a client with a severe concussion who is wanting to train to be an AHA. This placement started in July 2022.
One of our new graduate OTs established a link with a café in Whitmore Square who provide meals for the homeless. She supported Derryn to volunteer his skills and he described working at the café as “wicked” and helped to make 100s of meals for individuals experiencing disadvantage or homelessness.
