Realising there is little support for carers with an ABI. Be Well is a mental health support program developed by the SAHMRI in conjunction with Flinders University, which helps people to understand their own mental health and introduces activities and tools designed to improve their wellbeing.
Over the course of the financial year, BISA delivered four Be Well Plans for families and carers of people with a brain injury, through a mixture of in-person sessions at each of our hubs, and an online course, enabling a variety of people to attend.
Across the sessions, more than 20 people registered and started the program, with 14 people completing the full course.
To help us to shape the need of future programs to be delivered, a post group survey was conducted, and recorded the following outcomes:
- With regard to the importance of having other carers present who understood their experience 100% rated it as either important (29%) or very important (71%)
- 86% found the activities helpful or extremely helpful
- 72% rated it as important or very important to be able to share their experiences with others, and 72% felt that they had been able to help others by sharing their own experience
- 86% felt they would benefit from further support from BISA in their caring role but were unable to describe the type of support
BISA will be delivering an additional 4 courses over the next 12 months. Additionally, we have been successfully awarded a grant to be able to employ a project lead to complete some research into what supports would be beneficial for family members at various stages of their journey and scoping out how BISA might be able to support this. We look forward to continuing to develop this vital program for Carers.
Be Well Program Comments:
Absolutely worth making the special effort to attend these sessions and will continue to use the information into the future.
Even though attended via ‘Teams’ online, I felt in a safe and caring environment. I liked how the program gradually adds tools each week.
Was lovely to see other people and hear their stories, be vulnerable without judgement and share a laugh.
I found it extremely helpful as it was something that I was needing and didn’t realise.
– Participant Story: Elvin’s Power Assist to Explore
This picture is also of Elvin and his partner Ellida – who have provided consent to share this story.
Elvin has a new wheelchair that was prescribed for him. The chair allows him and his partner to be able to access the community and visit places they haven’t been able to go before since being in Australia, with an upcoming trip planned for Victor Harbor. With the power assist feature of the new wheelchair, Elvin is able to press a button that provides Ellida some power assistance when pushing to reduce the strain on her body. Previously Ellida had significant problems with her shoulders and back from pushing the wheelchair for long distances.
Now Ellida can push Elvin with less strain and pain, and they can both enjoy exploring the community much more easily together.
Proudly Supported and Funded by The Lifetime Support Authority:
