Wanted: matchmaker for people seeking affordable accessible housing

Sometimes the outcomes of a project have impact far beyond what was planned or anticipated. The Participant Led Videos project that we rolled out earlier this year was one such case. Our Clinical Practice Lead, Cath Bucolo, shares her reflections:

I’ve been working in the fields of acquired brain injury, rehabilitation, disability and advocacy for more than 20 years. But, surprisingly, it’s only recently that I’ve come to fully appreciate the lack of opportunity people with disability have to work out what’s really important to them, to find their voice, and be really heard.

The winners of the two $5000 2018 Allen Martin Scholarships have been announced.

Clinical neuropsychologist and Monash University Research Fellow, Dr Kate Gould (pictured above, left), received a scholarship for her Australian first research to help protect people with acquired brain injury (ABI) from cyber scams

“This will be the first study to investigate how common cybercrime is for individuals with ABI,” Dr Gould said. “We will look into the types of cybercrime experienced and factors which may contribute to this vulnerability.”

She said understanding, preventing and effectively managing the impact of cybercrime had the potential to enhance quality of life for people with ABI by maximising their safety and confidence in accessing the internet, email, social media and other online activities.

Danielle Sansonetti (pictured above, right), an occupational therapist and senior clinician at the Alfred Health ABI Unit, will look at ways to optimise independence for individuals with ABI through successful application of daily routines after they transition to the community.

This will assist clinicians to better understand those interventions that can be applied in rehabilitation in order to achieve clinically important long-term outcomes.

“Investigation of an individual’s ability to maintain their daily routines in the community following discharge from residential rehabilitation will provide clinicians with important information around the factors that contribute to long-term sustainability of routines in the community,” she said.

About 40 people attended the Allen Martin Memorial Lecture and scholarship announcement on 14 November.

The lecture was presented by Professor Fary Khan, who discussed the “evolving role of rehabilitation in global health”.

The Allen Martin Research Scholarships are sponsored by the Rotary Club of Kew and Robinson Gill lawyers.

[lead]The Summer Foundation is pleased to announce the Allen Martin Research Scholarship 2018 sponsored by the Rotary Club of Kew and Robinson Gill Lawyers.[/lead]

This scholarship is open to clinicians, health professionals and students who wish to conduct a new research project in the field of recovery following acquired brain injury. This year there are two awards, each valued at $5,000, which need to be utilised over a period of one year. All applications must meet the eligibility criteria and responsibilities of the scholarship, which can be accessed here.

Applications are now open. To apply complete the application form and submit to louise.dixon@summerfoundation.org.au by COB Monday 15 October 2018.

Applications will be reviewed by the Summer Foundation Scholarship Sub Committee and the successful candidates will be announced at the Allen Martin Lecture on 14 November 2018.

This scholarship acknowledges the work of Allen Martin who showed great dedication and support towards advancing clinical knowledge and practice for people with complex brain injury, with particular emphasis on slow stream neurological rehabilitation.

Previous scholarship winners:

Laura Connolly – Light therapy for fatigue following traumatic brain injury
Suzana Hercegovak – Participation in volunteering roles following ABI
Michelle Kahn – Development of a gold-standard clinical assessment for associated reactions of the arm following ABI
Kate D’Cruz – Investigating the value of client-centred practice from the perspective of adults with traumatic brain injury participating in community based occupational therapy
Katie Anson – Long-term outcome following acquired brain injury
Melanie Drummond – Consequences of post-traumatic anosmia
Ming-Yun Hsieh – The treatment of people with anxiety disorders following moderate-severe traumatic brain injury
Lucy Knox – The experience of decision-making after severe traumatic brain injury: A Grounded Theory exploration
Margaret Mealings – ‘School’s a big part of your life’. Perspectives of students returning to secondary and tertiary education following traumatic brain injury, their peers and family members
Ruth Tesselaar – Classroom performance of student with an acquired brain injury: The impact of aide programs.

The Summer Foundation is looking for National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants to create personal digital stories that capture their experience of hospital discharge, housing or living as a young person in aged care.

Your stories will be used to help the health system, aged care sector and the NDIS improve the way they interact with people with complex disability – and with each other – to improve outcomes for people in the future.

HOSPITAL DISCHARGE EXPERIENCE

We’re looking for ten NDIS participants across Queensland, NSW, Tasmania and SA, to create personal digital stories that capture your experience of hospital discharge.

These digital stories will form part of a training package that will be used to help hospitals and the NDIS achieve smooth discharge from hospital back into the community as the NDIS rolls out across Australia.

For more details, download the flyer here.

EXPERIENCE LIVING IN A NURSING HOME

We’re looking for eight NDIS participants across Queensland, NSW, Tasmania and SA, to create personal digital stories that show how the lives of younger people with disability, who are living in residential aged care (RAC), can be improved.

Examples of positive outcomes could be: receiving NDIS funding, creative models of support and/or transitioning from RAC to more suitable housing.

These digital stories will be used to build knowledge within the aged care sector so that better outcomes can be achieved for younger people living in nursing homes across Australia.

For more details, download the flyer here.

EXPERIENCE LIVING AT HOME OR IN SUITABLE HOUSING

We’re looking for eight NDIS participants across Queensland, NSW, Tasmania and SA, to create personal digital stories that show how the lives of younger people with disability, who are living at home or in suitable housing, can be improved.

Examples of positive outcomes could be: receiving NDIS funding, creative models of support and/or transitioning from residential aged care (RAC) to more suitable housing.

These digital stories will be used to build knowledge, so that better outcomes can be achieved for younger people living in nursing homes across Australia.

For more details, download the flyer here.

[lead]The Summer Foundation is pleased to announce the 2017 Allen Martin Research Scholarship sponsored by The Rotary Club of Kew.[/lead]

The shortage of appropriate housing for people with high and complex disabilities is a huge problem.

The Summer Foundation is holding a series of workshops with people from around Australia who are likely to be eligible for NDIS Specialist Disability Accommodation payments, to gather information on what new housing for people with disability could look like. This information will be used to influence governments, developers, housing providers and investors, to make sure that future accessible housing meets the needs of the people who will use it.

Young people with disability living in nursing homes are one of the most marginalised and isolated groups of people in our society. More than half of them (53%) receive a visit from a friend less than once a year. They generally lead impoverished lives, characterised by loneliness and boredom.

These problems affect more than 6,200 people under the age of 65 who are stuck in nursing homes. Another 200 people under 50 are admitted to nursing homes each year, where they live with people in their 80’s.