Community Head Injury Service – Information for people referred to the rehabilitation team

Read our guide below about our rehabilitation team.

You can also download a PDF version of this patient information by following the link on the right.

Who we are

We support people with the short, medium- and long-term consequences of brain injury.

The Community Head Injury Service (CHIS) is based at Brookside Clinic in Aylesbury, and provides services to the whole of Buckinghamshire and the surrounding areas.

The rehab team includes expertise in:

• clinical neuropsychology
• occupational therapy
• physiotherapy
• speech and language therapy

We also have a community practitioner and admin support.

Who we see

We provide specialist vocational neurorehabilitation to adults aged 16+ with:

• head injury
• cerebral anoxia
• encephalitis and meningitis
• sub arachnoid haemorrhage
• non progressive cerebral tumours
• a mild head injury with persisting post-concussion symptoms.

What we do

We tailor your rehabilitation according to your needs. The information below is a guide to the range of things we may offer, but not everyone will have everything listed here.

Your initial assessment

After you’re referred to us, we’ll offer you an appointment for an initial assessment. This can be quite a long appointment as we want to get to know who you are and what difficulties you might be experiencing.

At the end of that appointment we’ll agree an initial plan of action. This will often include a recommendation for specialist assessments such as:

• neuropsychology to explore how you’re feeling, your thinking or ‘cognitive’ skills (memory, concentration, planning and organising)
• occupational therapy which might include looking at your daily living skills
• speech and language therapy to look at your communication skills.

What happens after my assessment?

Following assessment, we work with you to identify your goals and priorities and how we can help you achieve them. You may be offered some individual therapy. We may also invite you to group sessions if we think that will be helpful.

Individual sessions

 Typical areas of rehabilitation include:

• becoming more independent both at home and in the community
• managing symptoms which may cause you concern such as anxiety, anger, fatigue, forgetfulness and communication difficulties
• support to return to work or education.

Group sessions

We tailor our group sessions for specific needs including:

• educational sessions
• cognitive rehabilitation
• fatigue management
• communication
• using technology to manage difficulties
• psychological support.

How we support your family

We do this either through our community practitioner or through family/couple counselling and education.

What some of our patients have said …

“Great service. The face-to-face interaction with others who have undergone similar issues is a big benefit. The chance to talk to professionals is a relief – just getting to know that you are not the only person with the injury is a huge benefit!”

“…I know that I am a different person today because of the support I have been given from the team since my stroke, I can’t put into words how grateful I am.”