Iowa Family Support Network Manual

Iowa Family Support Network

Manual

The Iowa Traumatic Brain Injury Implementation Grant

Brain Injury Association of Iowa
Iowa Department of Public Health
University of Iowa Affiliated Programs

The Brain Injury Association of Iowa

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgement ……………………………………………. 2
Forward ……………………………………………………….. 3
Welcome ………………………………………………………. 4
Introduction – 4
How the program will work –4
Needed characteristices-4-5
What your role will be-5-6
What your role should not include-6
Resources available to you-6
Confidentiality Statement ………………………………….…. 7
Code of Ethics ………………………………………………… 8
Iowa Family Support Network Project Objectives ………….... 9
Documentation Sheet(s) ………………………………………. 10
Iowa Family Support Network Volunteer Responsibilities…11-12

Brain Injury Association of Iowa Family Network

Training Program

Acknowledgements:

The Brain Injury Family Support Network Program of Iowa was developed in cooperation with the Iowa Department of Public Health, through funding from the Traumatic Brain Injury Demonstration Grant. The United States Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources Services Administration, Maternal and Child Bureau awarded this grant to Iowa in 1998. This Program was developed in collaboration with the Brain Injury Association of Iowa, the Department of Public Health, the University of Iowa Affiliated Programs, and families of persons living with brain injuries.

A special thanks to the family members that assisted in creating the best Family Support Network Iowa can offer. Thank you to the Professionals and other volunteers who participated in the writing, training and implementation of this program.

Foreward

The purpose of the Brain Injury Associations of Iowa Family Support Network Program is to provide support and guidance to families of individuals with traumatic brain injuries at the time of hospitalization, and beyond if appropriate. The support and guidance includes but is not limited to, information about brain injury, support group materials, service information and family needs. It should be noted that historically emphasis was placed on direct intervention with the survivor of brain injury, with little involvement or communication with the family. During the late 1970’s into the 1980’s hospital stays for this type of catastrophic injury averaged in months. Now with recent changes in insurance coverage and managed care issues hospital stays are limited to days and weeks. Less time is given to families to prepare for return to home or to search for appropriate post hospital services. Families are often left to "fend" for themselves after a brief hospital stay, where the goals are to get the survivors body medically stable and move on. Little consideration has been given to the "identity" of the individual or the education of the family. The goal of this program is to change this direction and assist the family to better understand brain injury and it’s effects.

This program will be implemented in targeted rehabilitation hospitals throughout the state of Iowa over the next two years. Families and individuals that have recently experienced a brain injury will be networked with a family or individual from the community where the hospital or rehabilitation center is located. These families or individuals will have a network family/individual to whom they may ask questions, as well as seek guidance and support throughout their hospital stay and after.

Welcome

Introduction:

Thank you for your interest in participating in the Iowa Family Support Network. This

Program is designed to provide volunteers the ability to support individuals and families that have experienced a brain injury. It will provide information to help them make informed decisions and have a better understanding of brain injury and it’s effects. The mission of this program is to provide information, education, support and guidance to these families and individuals. This support will be offered at the time of acute hospitalization and beyond if appropriate for the family or individual.

How the Program Will Work:

In order to implement this program in the most practical manner possible, five hospitals have been designated as host sites. These hospitals are geographically located to cover the state and utilize the available support groups in and around those cities. It is our goal to ultimately encompass the entire state and utilize all state wide support groups for support and education.

Your Program Director will be _____________________________________________.

You may contact your Program Director at ____________________________________.

After completing this training course, your name will be entered on a call list. When a person enters the trauma hospital with a brain injury the (Program Director, hospital Social Worker, Rehab. Coordinator) will assess the needs of the individual or family and may contact you as a trained volunteer. The person responsible for communication will provide you with the necessary information and will instruct you on how to follow up with the family. In this manual you will find all the necessary information to document your interactions Some of the items included are: - a log to record visits

communication tips
Resource basket/kit
other helpful items to make your interaction as positive as possible.

Needed Characteristics:

EMPATHY – the ability to grasp another’s feelings, experiences, goals, and accurately conveys this understanding.

Respect – caring, warmth, and positive regard for another, communicated through nonpossessive interest and acceptance.

Genuineness – honesty with oneself and others and humanness, integrated into one’s personality.

Concreteness – the ability to guide discussions into personally relevant material, in specific terms, to help another conceptualize experiences in manageable ways.

Self-Disclosure – appropriate, timely sharing of personal experiences, thoughts feelings, and attitudes to model effective self-exploration and problem solving.

Confidentiality – willingness to confide entrusted information in private disclosure.

Immediacy – concentration on the "here and now" of the relationship to foster direct dealing with the impact of each on the other.

Confrontation – the ability to focus on discrepancies in another’s communications and "call it like it is" in a facilitative manner.

Listening – to hear with thoughtful attention.

Grief Helper – Grief is natural and normal. Grief hurts. No grief is the same for anyone. You must assist the family in acknowledging the grief, to live through it, accept the pain, share their thoughts and help them become a person again.

These and other core communication skills can be developed through training and practice, and volunteers can become very effective with these characteristics

What Your Role Will Be:

As an Iowa Family Support Network volunteer, your role is to offer support to the individual or family. Often having someone there is important to the individual or family. Your experience and knowledge is valuable and being present implies to the individual or family that they are valued and that others care. As an Iowa Family Support Network volunteer, you must:

have good listening skills;

ask for assistance when needed

work under the supervision of the designated staff

provide positive and honest feedback to questions asked by the individual or family

provide complete and accurate records

respond to request for information and resources related to brain injury

provide individualized assistance and emotional support to the individual or family

deal positively with your own grief as well as that of the family you are supporting.

The designated staff is available to you at any time for your assistance. If you find that you are unable to find a resource, answer a question, provide the proper support necessary to the

individual or family contact the designated staff person immediately. If you are overwhelmed with the situation, please call your designated staff person immediately and he/she will assist you with the situation. Your designated staff person is your support person, use them often.

What Your Role Should Not Include:

Your role is strictly to be a support person to an individual or family with a brain injury. Your role is not to be:

Social worker, discharge planner, case manager, or service coordinator

An expert on all issues

A provider of transportation or other services such as relief from family responsibility,

baby sitting, or housing

Provide financial support or financial counseling

Make critical decisions without consulting the designated staff person first

Become a burden on the individual or family you are volunteering to assist

Provide feelings of hopelessness or despair to the individual or family

Provide medical advice or contradict the Rehab Teams recommendation

Resources Available to You:

Resource kit/basket

Family packet of written materials

Iowa Family Network information sheet

Brochure from the Brain Injury Association of Iowa

Name tag

General information on brain injury

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Confidentiality Statement

In the performance of your duties as a Brain Injury Association of Iowa Family Support Network volunteer, you must hold patient, family and staff information in utmost confidence. All staff and volunteers shall preserve the confidentiality of patient, family employee and medical center information. You will not release any confidential information to your family, friends or any unauthorized persons or discusses confidential information in a manner that will lead to unauthorized persons obtaining this information.

Confidential information includes but not limited to the patients medical record, computerized patient/family information/reports, hospital documents and reports, and verbal/written information obtained during the discussion of patient/family/hospital/BIA-IA business.

All information exchanged concerning the Family Support Network System, BIA-I business, staff, volunteers and patients must take place between authorized persons on a "need to know" basis. All case discussions, shall be conducted discreetly in an appropriate location

Any violation of the confidentiality of any patient, family or staff information gained through your volunteer work for the Brain Injury Association of Iowa Family Support Network System is grounds for immediate disciplinary action, including termination from the Program.

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Code of Conduct and Ethics

Family Support Network volunteers:

avoid any conflict of interest or dual relationship when working with a consumer. Such arrangements may impair the Family Support Network volunteers ability to be objective and place the consumer at risk for exploitation;

do not discriminate against or refuse service to anyone based on race, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or disability;

do not neglect or abandon families/individuals without making reasonable arrangements for their continued support;

respect the confidences of the family and/or the individual with the injury;

do not make any guarantees regarding the results of their assistance;

do not misrepresent their competencies. Family Support Network volunteers will refer consumers to trained professionals when the need arises;

respect the values of the family and not attempt to impose the Family Support Network volunteer’s values on them;

allow the consumer to make his/her own decisions, Family Support Network volunteers may be of help in aiding the family in understanding the consequences of their decisions;

are dedicated to the advancement of the welfare of the consumer and not take advantage of them in any way;

never discuss with others how or why an accident occurred resulting in an individuals brain injury;

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Brain Injury Association of
Iowa Family Support Network
Objectives

Objective 1:

Develop a Family Support System for families, individuals and others who have had a significant other experience a brain injury.

Objective 2:

Identify volunteers in the state of Iowa, through Brain Injury Support groups and personal contacts with families or individuals that have experienced a brain injury to a significant other.

Collaborate with and identify hospital staff, (Rehab. Coordinator, Social worker, etc) to make referrals to the Family Support Network System.

Provide extensive training to volunteers on the the nature of brain injury

educational materials for families

components of the service system in the state of Iowa

survivor/family supports

the experience of survivors and families in short and long-term rehabilitation services

how these families adjusted or did not adjust to these services

the art of communication and listening skills

the level of their responsibility to the families we are supporting

Introduce families and individuals to the Brain Injury Association’s website and it’s use.

In training sessions stress the primary needs of supporting families, individuals and others dealing with brain injury to a significant other.

Responsibilities Coordinator:

Support and develop training strategies

Write training curricula

Establish relationship agreements with hospitals and acute care units

Collaborate with the Grant Predischarge Planner to establish protocols with hospitals and acute care units

Create a protocol for the designated hospital staff to make referrals to the "Family Support System"

Record the number of referrals

Document outcome based information regarding the "Family Support Network System"

Assess satisfaction through the process of interviews with the families/individual/volunteers on an ongoing bases

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Documentation Sheet
BIA-IA Family Support Network

Always date and sign all entries

Brain Injury Association of

Iowa Family Support Network

Volunteer Responsibilities

Title: Family Support Network Volunteer

Purpose: To provide support and and information to families and individuals who have recently experienced a brain injury to a significant other. This support includes sharing your experience, your strength and your hope with the families we are assisting.

Supervisor: That person designated by the Brain Injury Association of Iowa.

Responsibilities: Offer emotional support to families, individuals and the person who has experienced a brain injury.

Provide selected information about brain injury.

Distribute resource materials to the families, individuals and if deemed appropriate to the person who has experienced a brain injury.

Be available in a timely manner to the designated family.

Abide by the written code of ethics and confidentiality statement included in this packet.

Provide honest communication to the family or individual.

Complete accurate nonjudgmental documentation on each of your visits with the family or individual using the provided documentation sheet.

Knowledge: Knowledge of brain injury or a willingness to learn about it.

Knowledge of the community resources or a willingness to learn about them.

Willingness to provide open and honest communication about your experience with brain injury.

Abilities: Ability to support families, individuals, and if deemed appropriate the or person who has experienced a brain injury throughout the hospital stay.

Ability to get to the hospital or acute care center.

Ability to reach out and provide support to others in a caring nurturing manner, that is nonjudgmental to a families background or culture.

Ability to respect other people’s values, ethics, and decisions.

Ability to cope with other’s issues and challenges.

Ability to discontinue the relationship when you the family and the Supervisor deem it necessary.

Ability to learn new methods of support and guidance.

Ability to deal with your own grief in addition to the grief of the family or individual you are working with.

Ability to support survivors and/or families at unpredictable times

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Skills/Qualities: Excellent listening and communication skills.

Acceptance of and adjustment to personal experiences with brain injury.

Substance abuse free

Respect and advocate for people living with brain injury, and other disabilities.

Exhibit good personal qualities and values including but not limited to:

-Honesty
-Dependability
-Trustworthy
-Reliable
-Sensitive to others needs
-Courteous
-Conscientious
-Open communications with all involved in the support system
-Confidentiality

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Signature Date

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