Outreach Case Management Project Details - Victoria Brain Injury Society

Town of View Royal

Grant Application from Victoria Brain Injury Society

Please find below answers to the questions posed on the application form.

Funding Request:

$2000

Describe your organization’s mission statement and how your services meet them:

There are approximately 1157 individuals living with a brain injury on the West Shore and 139 brain injury survivors from the West Shore municipality participating in VBIS programs. Whether caused by concussion, tumor, trauma, stroke, etc, brain injury has a severe impact on a person’s life. Victoria Brain Injury Society (VBIS) provides services to brain injury survivors who typically have no other place to go in order to receive the care and support they desperately require.

VBIS provides programs, individual and group support, education and advocacy to brain injury survivors and their families. Survivors experience severe cognitive challenges as well as social isolation, discrimination and exclusion and often have difficulty gaining access to crucial social supports. Our dedicated staff and passionate volunteers welcome survivors into our safe, inclusive environment and give them the support they need in order to avoid the more severe consequences associated with brain injury, including family break-up, addiction, poverty and homelessness.

Nature and goals of the project:

It often takes bravery and courage for brain injury survivors to reach out for help. When they contact Victoria Brain Injury Society, brain injury survivors are often in crisis and with few physical, emotional or financial resources to overcome challenges and hurdles. We would like to remove one of the hurdles for survivors in the West Shore seeking our support. We know that the further a client has to travel to seek support the more likely they are to not attend appointments and thus get the support they need. We have also found that during COVID-19, when VBIS programs were moved to an online platform, that clients were particularly grateful to not have to travel to appointments, but still desired the face-to-face contact with a case manager. We would like to offer initial case management sessions located in West Shore so that brain injury survivors that are at a vulnerable point no longer need to travel to our office.

At these case management sessions trust is built between the case manager and the client, initial crises issues will be resolved and support will be offered. While case management varies depending on the needs of the client, typical case management sessions could involve:

Developing a therapeutic relationship;
Identifying strengths and challenges within the client’s life;
Resolving issues with housing and finances;
Supporting clients in resolving relationship issues and developing informal support networks and structures;
Identifying and helping clients seek help for addiction and substance abuse issues;
Liaising with medical staff in order to resolve issues;
Liaising with any legal representatives engaged by the client to ensure that any court case as a result of the person’s brain injury has all the information regarding the brain injury; and
Identifying life goals and support structures for the client for returning to work, education etc.

The case manager works to reduce the client's risk of social isolation, loneliness, anxiety, stress, low self-esteem and risk-taking behavior. They work with clients as they develop positive social and family connections and networks, high social competences, interpersonal skills/life skills and increased opportunities and places for social interaction. They assist individuals to set goals in order to build all of the skills necessary to adapt to their injury, and match them up with programs that will teach them the necessary coping mechanisms.

A case management session lasts for 45-60 minutes. Clients differ in the number of sessions they require, some may feel their issues have been resolved after one session while others may need many sessions to develop trust and rapport with their case manager and deal with a range of complex issues. On average clients access approximately 5 sessions with a case manager. Following case management clients take different paths some feel empowered and equipped to deal with issues in their life without support while other may choose to access VBIS educational programs, supported volunteering opportunities and workshops to help them further. Clients can return to seek support from their case management should they need it in the futures but the aim of the sessions is to not only resolve any crises that the client is experiencing but also to equip them with the skills and support network to resolve issues as they arise in the future.

Summary of direct and indirect benefits to the Town of View Royal:

This project will provide case management support to approximately 63 West Shore residents. We know that case management helps to decrease clients’ depression, anxiety and low self-esteem, and increases positive relationships, skills and participation in recreation/social/community programs. Most importantly, it prevents survivors from spiraling into a life of depression, poverty, homelessness, addiction or crime. Thus we expect to see the following outcomes for this project:

63 West Shore brain injury survivors being supported.
63 West Shore brain injury survivors with increased positive feelings.
63 West Shore brain injury survivors better equipped to participate in education, work, social and/or community activities.

This project would run for one year. We plan to work with other non-profit organizations to ensure that there is space for the project on the West Shore.

Approximately 5% of the new clients that approached us for service in 2020 were from the West Shore. Traveling for support can be hard for clients due to their brain injury; anxiety, fatigue, difficulty with mobility, memory issues and financial challenges can make it hard to travel for help. This project would allow us to meet West Shore residents’ needs for case management in their community thus removing a potential barrier to accessing support and helping to prevent any other issues from developing. Working with a case manager, vulnerable West Shore residents will benefit in the following ways:

increasing household income by assisting with benefits and returning to work
preventing and resolving housing issues, financial problems and personal crises
ensuring the inclusion of vulnerable residents in the community by assisting them to develop coping strategies for their brain injury
supporting clients in resolving relationship issues and developing informal support networks and structures

We anticipate that this project will benefit approximately 63 West Shore residents who have had a brain injury as well as their immediate families. This will also benefit the wider community of West Shore as these individuals will be supported to be part of the community taking part in community activities. Increased household income will mean increased participation in the local economy and increased resiliency will mean that they are less likely to use emergency services, which will provide a sense of safety and security in West Shore neighbourhoods.