Spinal Cord Injury
The case managers at Brownbill Associates Ltd frequently work with people with all levels of spinal cord injury, usually caused by a traumatic incident such as a road traffic accident.
The precise nature of a spinal cord injury varies from person to person, but essentially an injury to the spinal cord means irreversible damage to the nerves between the brain and the rest of the body. This results in loss of voluntary movement and conscious sensation below the level of injury. Bodily functions such as blood pressure, temperature control and bladder and bowel function are also affected.
A significant number of people with spinal cord injury will experience some partial recovery of movement and sensation from nerves that were not injured in the original injury.
Most of our clients spend a considerable period of time in hospital after the injury, often in a specialist spinal injury centre (SIC). There are 11 such specialist centres and the National SCI Centre is at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.
The case manager will help the client continue their rehabilitation post discharge from hospital and gradually return to an active family life, leisure activities and work or education. They can assist with a variety of practical tasks such as helping to either coordinate adaptations to the home to be wheelchair accessible or find alternative accommodation, arrange assessment and acquisition of specialist equipment such as wheelchairs, transfer aids, specialist bed and a shower chair etc. and appoint a therapy team. If personal assistance is required with daily living tasks then they will help arrange support workers / personal assistants and coordinate their training and on-going management to ensure their support is specific to the client's needs and wants. Case managers are also adept at coordinating hospital appointments and therapy review meetings.
Brownbill Associates Ltd will provide a comprehensive case management service for as long as necessary, but will also point the client towards the other many sources of information and support as well.