Our Therapies

Headway Basingstoke provides specialised community based rehabilitation re-enablement and support services for individuals with brain injury and their carers. Our assessment and treatment focusses on Cognitive Rehabilitation Activities, physical and occupational activities and outreach support for adults with acute or long-term traumatic and acquired brain injury.

Intensive Cognitive Rehabilitation Programme (CRP) programme

Our cognitive rehabilitation programme focuses almost exclusively on cognitive, executive and awareness issues. The programme consists of 5 modules (attention, visual processing, information processing, memory and executive functions) but not everyone will need to complete all of them.

The programme lasts for 12 weeks, in which most service users will finish the work in 10 weeks. The two extra weeks are available for service users who require additional time and also allows the staff to compile a report and give you structured feedback on your progress.

You will progress at your own speed according to your abilities and the level of support you require. Modules are identified through assessment and embedded in to your individual ongoing rehabilitation care plan, activities and attendance.
The areas you will cover are:
• Understanding brain injury, mechanisms and implications
• Understand emotional/ behavioural changes.
• How to cope with change in self.
• Working towards a new sense of self.
• Problem solving

Active Rehabilitation Programme

Our active rehabilitation programme currently offers  our ‘Brain Injury and Me’ programme. (Photo No   )

Our ‘Brain injury and me’ programme is a structured programme with you attending normally once a week for a period of 8 weeks during which time you’ll participate in activities around brain injury awareness and strategies to support ongoing rehabilitation following discharge from hospital.  You’ll be continually monitored for progress, and improvement in skills and executive functioning. Staff continually monitor and record your progress on skills and executive functions.

We aim to provide further courses in this structured programme in the near future.

Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy

CRT focuses on attention, visual processing, information processing, memory and executive functions. You’ll be assessed to identify strengths and challenges and then work on those specific areas. CRT is about relearning processes and re training your brain. You’ll develop strategies to improve areas of challenge. It’s not about getting things right or wrong it’s about the process involved in carrying out a task.

You’ll progress at your own speed according to your abilities and the level of support you require. Modules are identified through assessment and embedded in to your individual ongoing rehabilitation care plan, activities and attendance.

Occupational Therapy

You may be engaged on other activities whilst signed up to active rehabilitation and these include:

• Cooking (skills and theory, e.g. healthy eating, identification of food groups, information on conditions such as diabetes)
• Horticulture – Gardening and growing our own vegetables for cooking
• Discussion Groups
• Music Therapy

Fine Motor Functions

• Creative therapy (art, ceramics, 3D models)
• Passive Physiotherapy

A Typical Day

• There are 2 sessions a day – the day starts promptly at 10 am and finishes at 3 pm. You will bring your own packed lunch and a contribution of £2.50 for the service.
• At the start of each session you, other service users and staff discuss the purpose of each session and the skills and goals the session is working towards.
• You will be encouraged to carry out independent living skills throughout the day including activities such as serving hot drinks, loading the dishwasher, tidying after lunch.

Slow stream long term rehabilitation and maintenance programme

The aim of our slow stream long term rehabilitation and maintenance programme is to enable you to further develop your skills moving you towards improved health and wellbeing, self-management and independence.

This pathway also supports you if you are unlikely to be able to return to the community living and independence without continued specialist support to improve or maintain your cognitive skills, executive functions, communication and vocational skills.

This programme includes sessions which focus on.
Sessions include cognitive rehabilitation, activities to improve functional and daily living skills and activities to help with movement and exercise.
• Cognitive rehabilitation activities – attention, visual processing, information processing, memory and executive functions memory exercises
• Cooking (skills and theory, e.g. healthy eating, identification of food groups, information on conditions such as diabetes)
• Horticulture – Gardening and growing our own vegetables for cooking
• Discussion Groups
• Mindfulness and active relaxation
• Music Therapy
• Creative therapy (art, ceramics, 3D models)
• Passive exercises and activities to help with movement

You will be assigned a key worker at the time of engagement, who will work with you to identify and agree a goal based rehabilitation care plan.
A typical day:
• There are 2 sessions a day.
• At the start of each session you, other service users and staff discuss the purpose of each session and the skills and goals the session is working towards.
• You will be encouraged to carry out independent living skills throughout the day including activities such as serving hot drinks, loading the dishwasher, tidying after lunch.

Community Re-engagement and Outreach Service Users

Once you have progressed through the active rehabilitation and/or the ongoing rehabilitation and have reached a level of self-management and independence you may wish to use our community re-engagement and outreach programme.

Designed to encourage maximum independence, you are encouraged to work in peer to peer groups to lead and manage social activities such as swimming and bowling knowing that a representative from Headway will be there to assist if necessary.

As a Community re-engagement and outreach service user, you may or may not attend the centre on a regular basis. However, should you need support or assistance during a period of crisis you will have access to Headway Basingstoke’s information, advice and services.