Website of the Department of Health
Please note that this website has a UK government access keys system.
Page menu
Good Practice Guide and examples
- Quality requirement 1: A person-centred service
- Quality requirement 2: Early recognition, prompt diagnosis and treatment
- Quality requirement 3: Emergency and acute management
- Quality requirement 4: Early and specialist rehabilitation
- Quality requirement 5: Community rehabilitation and support
- Quality requirement 6: Vocational rehabilitation
- Quality requirement 7: Providing equipment & accommodation
- Quality requirement 8: Personal care and support
- Quality requirement 9: Palliative care
- Quality requirement 10: Supporting families and carers
- Quality requirement 11: Caring for people with neurological conditions during admission
- Chapter 3 of the NSF: Neuroscience networks
You are here:
Connections Project, Edinvar Community Care Company Ltd, Edinburgh
-
Last modified date:9 February 2007
The above company has charitable status and is an independent provider of a number of services in the social care field, including the Connections Project. Connections is unique in that it is one of very few projects offering support to people with an acquired brain injury (ABI), even though they may continue to misuse alcohol and other substances. Funding comes from two main sources, the Mental Health Specific Grant and Supporting People.
The original idea for the project came from carers of service users, and it was established in 1993 with just 2 support workers. It now has a project manager, 4 support workers and 1 community builder, whose role is to help people with ABI to establish or re-establish links with local community groups thereby creating the opportunity for social inclusion.
The project aims to:
- Promote independent living
- Offer emotional support to service users in their relationships with others, the situation in which they are living and in connection with life events
- Offer practical support including assistance with budgeting, claiming and maintaining benefits, paying rent and bills and any other issues concerned with maintaining a tenancy
- Offer practical assistance in finding and retaining appropriate accommodation
- Offer support in establishing and maintaining relationships with friends, colleagues and other members of the community
- Offer support in undertaking activities to promote community integration including assistance in participating in further education courses and / or activities involving local groups or communities
- Offer support and advice to relatives or friends of service users where appropriate
- Liaise with agencies including housing departments, social services, health services, other statutory and voluntary organisations whenever appropriate
- Provide advice and information about ABI
- Offer an out of hours on-call service to provide service users with support when they find themselves needing assistance
Workers in the project are always keen to speak to others, and to impart and learn from their experiences.
Contact:
Alan Dudley, Project Manager, Connections. E-mail: alan.dudley@edinvar.co.uk Tel: 0131 243 2049
Additional links
Overview of the examples
How the examples were chosen and evaluated, and how to submit an example.
Access keys
