Client Community
Banner image and walking group photograph courtesy of Rob Dinwoodie (brain injury survivor)
The Client Community is an exciting, vibrant and integral part of Rehabilitate Therapy. It is free to join for all our clients, and they can stay involved for as long as they want, even when they no longer need active occupational therapy. Through this we are building a “client alumni” who contribute actively to the Client Community.
Working with and for each other in a unique and life affirming relationship…
What is so special about the Client Community is that it is run by clients, for clients (supported by our community of occupational therapists) so the events and groups that are run are what clients have asked for and align with what is important to them. This empowers the clients, builds skill but also self-esteem. Clients work on so many goals within the community, such as relationship building, leisure, vocation, to name a few. We are incredibly proud of our Client Community and what it gives to so many.
The Client Community offers online groups, face to face groups, events and challenges for fitness (cognitive, physical and mental health and wellbeing). It also offers the opportunity for clients to meet other clients, to share their experiences and tips for success, as well as the struggles. This can be empowering for those starting their rehab.
What are the benefits?
Over the years we have found the Client Community offers a wide range of benefits to clients, their families, the OT team and the wider MDT, some of these are outlined below.
> Reducing isolation and loneliness
> Achieving client goals supported by the MDT
> Sharing of resources which supports client education and knowledge
> Giving a sense of belonging which can be lost after injury
> Empowering and motivating clients to achieve their potential
> Providing vocational opportunities in a supported way
> Sharing lived experience with not only clients, but also the wider MDT to inform rehabilitation
> Providing an opportunity to “give back” to charities who have supported them, through client challenges and other fundraising opportunities. This also further builds client confidence
The Client Community Hierarchy of Outcomes
The Client Community is more than a social group. It is a place where real connections are made; where clients can find support, feel understood and start to grow. Being part of the Client Community helps people to build new skills, get their confidence back and begin to picture who they want to become. We call this their 'future self' and it's a really important part of the rehabilitation journey, as clients begin to shape a new identity for themselves.
This doesn't happen overnight, of course. It is a gradual process, and the Client Community is there every step of the way. The hierarchy of outcomes shows how this journey tends to unfold, with each stage building naturally on the one before and moving clients forward.
FUTURE SELF
Reshaping identity after injury
Embracing Change: a ‘new you’
Giving confidence to move forward
VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION
Provide VR opportunities
Safe playground to explore work demands
Job demand analysis in real world context
REHABILITATION GOALS
Social participation goals
Fatigue management
Budget, life skills and daily routines
SENSE OF BELONGING
Community sharing to reduce isolation
Empathy and peer support to validate experiences
Boost self esteem
The Client Community Team
We are very lucky to have the input of a Rehabilitate Therapy specialist occupational therapist and art therapist in the Client Community, along with two clients who are now Client Liaison Officers and provide support, education and friendship to clients who join. The Client Community team also provide education and training at conferences, events, universities and produce resources to support rehabilitation.
Some Client Community Activities
Badminton Group
Board Games Café
Walking Group
Art Groups
Men’s Group
Photography Challenges
Visiting Historic Sites
Lifelong Learning Group
Bowling Group
Presenting and Sharing Lived Experiences
The Annual RT Challenge
Every year the clients run an annual challenge where clients can work on personal goals as well as contributing to a wider team effort which has been evidenced to build resilience, confidence and determination to achieve. The challenge completion is celebrated through a client party where the clients, facilitated by the team, host a client party, where they also support charities they have nominated through the challenge.
Christmas
Christmas is a very challenging time for many of our clients and our community is sensitive to that. As well as organising a Christmas party and annual quiz, they also hold a “Coping with Christmas” educational session for all those clients who find Christmas stressful and overwhelming, again this is run by one of our clients. Our clients also have produced resources that can be shared widely that enables occupational therapists to support their clients.
Vocational Rehabilitation in Action
Leon Clarkson
Leon Clarkson is our Client Liaison, and he has delivered talks at Headway Lincs conference, SYABIF, Salford University and Lincoln University, not to mention inspiring our clients and OTs/OT Support team members as an integral part of our team. He was also recently awarded the Stephen McAleese award for inspiration at the UKABIF awards in Manchester. He is an inspiring and motivational speaker. Here is a little bit more about Leon and his journey:
In 2010, at the age of 28, Leon's life was turned upside down when he was rushed to hospital due to his airway closing as a result of glandular fever. Leon suffered a hypoxic brain injury and began a long road of extensive rehabilitation to rebuild his life. Leon will tell you that it hasn’t been an easy journey for him, and it took him a long time to accept that he has a disability, but he has overcome and achieved so much. Since then, he has learnt to drive and bought his first home. He now plays a key role in our client community by inspiring and motivating others to keep going. He cofacilitates both the online and face to face groups, co-leads the client steering groups, and meets up with clients on a 1:1 basis or in a group setting to provide them with the support they need. He now dedicates much of his time to raising awareness of the crucial role of neuro rehabilitation and supporting other brain injury clients who are going through a similar journey.
Jake Cooper
Jake, 29, is a passionate advocate for rehabilitation and personal transformation. In 2017, at the age of 21, Jake's life changed forever when he suffered catastrophic injuries in a road traffic collision. The years that followed were marked by intense physical, mental, and emotional challenges, including anxiety, PTSD, and the lasting effects of a brain injury such as fatigue and memory difficulties.
Determined not to let the accident define him, Jake committed himself to rehabilitation — a turning point that ignited his mission to rebuild his body, mind, and identity. Through persistence and dedication, he transformed adversity into strength and purpose.
Today, Jake works with Rehabilitate Therapy, supporting others on their recovery journeys. He is also the founder of Re-Connexion Personal Training and Rehabilitation, a business dedicated to helping people who, like him, have faced life-changing injuries, empowering them to regain confidence, strength, and a sense of self.
Rob Dinwoodie
In March 2006 at the age of 18, Rob sustained a severe brain injury after a car in which he was a passenger lost control, hit a tree and ploughed through the railings of Endcliffe Park, Sheffield. After spending time unconscious in intensive care and undergoing extensive surgery, Rob began the long journey of recovery which included time spent in a rehabilitation unit to help him adapt to the ongoing effects of his condition including fatigue and short-term memory loss.
Now living independently, Rob began to play around with photography, quickly discovering a talent for the art and a particular focus on nature and animal photographs. "I have been lucky enough to find out that hobbies are a great way to keep focus in life," said Rob. "If you had asked me 15 years ago, before my injury, what I'd be doing now it would be nothing like what I'm actually doing. I love photography, it's given me the ability to achieve on my own, learning steadily as I go.”
We're delighted to have worked with Rob, and to feature photographs he has taken especially for the Rehabilitate Therapy website.
