An Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) is a brain injury that is not heritable, progressive or induced by birth trauma. The World Health Organization has defined an ABI as damage to the brain, which occurs after birth and is not related to a congenital or a degenerative disease. The injury changes the brain’s neural activity and affects the physical integrity, metabolic activity, or functional ability of nerve cells in the brain.

The ABI program is part of an integrated multidisciplinary ABI Services Team and executes a variety of life skills and general support duties involving people with ABI in the Columbia Valley, Fernie, Golden, and Creston who are case managed by Interior Health Authority (IHA).

A referral is required to access the program from the local Health Authority. And individuals must be aged 19-64 and have a documented brain injury.

Contact

Phone
250-342-5566

Email
info@fdx.family

Resources

Contact List for Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Services, Interior Health

 Acquired Brain Injury Services (ABI)

  • The services are confidential and free for people who have suffered from or are living with the effects of ABI.

  • Recovery support from the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social impacts of the acquired brain injury is available for those affected by it.

  • ABI Services help families, and caregivers, in supporting individuals with brain injury and in understanding and managing the changes to their family that may occur after brain injury.

  • ABI Life Skills Support Worker help assess and address gaps in services and resources for people with ABI and their families and caregivers.

  • The Support Worker provides assistance, guidance, information, and education to both the people who are living with the effects of an acquired brain injury and to those who care for and about them.

  • The services provided are within a psychosocial rehabilitation and harm reduction framework for people with ABI, with or without concurrent disorders.

  • Support is offered for the development and maintenance of the skills required to live successfully in their own home or a supportive living environment.

  • The Support Worker engages and connects the people with ABI in various community settings as individuals with full potential and as meaningful collaborators in their own service planning, delivery, and evaluation.

The people with ABI are helped with their physical, economic, vocational, recreational, social, emotional, and daily life skills development.  They are supported to achieve the greatest degree of independence and quality of life possible. In accordance with established treatment plans developed by IHA Case Coordinators, the ABI-Life Skills Workers work with the service beneficiaries in their communities and homes in person (when possible) in developing, maintaining, or restoring daily living skills, and participates in activities to support skill development such as training, modeling, and support.