We Want to be Together: Supporting carers and those with Brain Injury through a United Front

By Alyson Norman

Over the last several months Anchor Point has been posting about the need for the release of the ABI government strategy. As time goes on, we become ever more eager to understand the information that may be contained within this document. It is imperative that family members are included and recognized in terms of the contribution that they provide to supporting individuals with acquired brain injury. There also needs to be a wider recognition of the psychological, physical and social impact ABI has on the everyday lives of family members. One of the long-term goals of Anchor Point is to ensure that family and carers rights and needs are enshrined within policy and legislation at both a local level, within organizations and local authorities, and at a national level.

The reality is that our group is still too small to exact meaningful change alone. We are aware of many other carer organizations in the UK who work to support the needs of carers more generally. While we felt it important to develop Anchor Point as an organization to specifically address the caring responsibilities of families after brain injury, we appreciate that many of the factors affecting our family members are similar to those affecting other families and carers whose loved ones have other disabilities. The difference tends to be that after brain injury, family members are sometimes less involved in physical care, or supporting activities of daily living, but instead have to support with wider project management, such as planning, supporting decision making, and problem solving in everyday life.

Due to the number of crossovers with other carer networks, over the coming months we intend to establish wider connections to ensure that we can lobby important organizations and the government with sufficient weight and numbers. If you are a member of a carer organization within the UK, please do reach out to us at Anchor Point as we would love to hear from you.

Equally there are many other groups out there who support the needs of people with brain injuries. These include Headway UK and their affiliated local groups, the Stroke Association, the Children’s Brain Injury Trust (CBIT), and the United Acquired Brain Injury Forum (UKABIF), with which we have a close working relationship. There are also many other charities that work specifically with certain forms of brain injury such as Meningitis UK, the Encephalitis Society and One Punch. While Anchor Point does not directly work with people with acquired brain injuries themselves, the needs of people with ABI are a fundamental part of our cause. We are aware that family members receive little to no support when a loved one experiences an acquired brain injury. But those who experience such an injury firsthand also experience very little in the way of support and long term care and rehabilitation. Therefore, the approach to lobbying various organisations and the Government must come as a collective.

We will also be building links within the coming months with various charity organizations that support people with these neurological conditions. We have already formed a strong working relationship with Headway UK and UKABIF and intend to expand this further to other organizations in the future. As above, if you are an individual who is a member of one of these organizations, or another organization that supports people with ABI not listed above, please do get in touch with Anchor Point. We are very keen to build this network to raise a stronger voice and wider profile for ABI and the needs of carers across the UK.