Brain Injury services
Community Support
What do support services for survivors look like?
Our Cridge Brain Injury Support Workers provide life skills training and support services for individuals living with a brain injury. Support services are offered in-home and on a one-on-one basis, with a focus on building consistent, safe, and trusting helping relationships between survivors and support workers.
Brain injury support work is solutions and task-focused. Supports focus on identifying challenges with daily living and applying a variety of strategies and routines aimed at making daily living more manageable (less overwhelmed, more organized, for example).
What parts of daily living can a CSW help with?
Our Injury Support Workers aid survivors in redesigning their lives after brain injury and helping to make tasks that feel difficult, more manageable.
Our Injury Support Workers and survivors work together to find new tools to help with household management, medical appointments (finding and accessing health care), phone calls and meetings, organization and memory (calendars, scheduling), completing forms and help to navigate systems (PWD, taxes, Pension).
Disclaimer: We cannot offer emergency and crisis support, although we can help with creating a plan for accessing help in times of need when a Injury Support Worker is not available.
We work closely with and connect survivors to other potential support needs around mental health, addictions, housing, and medical needs.
How do I apply for this type of support?
The Cridge Brain Injury Services works in collaboration with Island Health’s Brain Injury Program (BIP) to provide services to help regain, improve, or maintain function and independence for adults with an acquired brain injury. To access these services, clients need to be registered with Island Health’s Brain Injury Program and require referral.
To apply, call the Community Access Centre in your region:
- South Island – Victoria Community Access Centre: 250-388-2273
- Central Island – Nanaimo Community Access Centre: 250-739-5749
- North Island – North Island Central Intake: 250-331-8570
Eligibility:
- Be 19 years of age or older
- Have a diagnosis for (or medical evidence of) an acquired brain injury after birth (e.g., CT scan, MRI report, neurological or physiatrist’s report)
- Live within the boundaries of Island Health and meet residency requirements as defined by Community Health Services
- Have limited or no funding or access to services from other sources such as – ICBC, WorkSafe, Crime Victims Assistance Program, Veteran’s Affairs, etc.