When the Victoria Brain Injury Society closed its doors to the public due to COVID-19, our volunteer Peer Supporters came to the rescue.
Before COVID-19, Peer Support volunteers provided support to brain injury survivors from Monday – Wednesday 10-3 and Thursday from 10am – 8pm. Last year the team were visited over 2500 times. Individuals use the service for socializing and feeling part of the community as well as emotional and practical support.
This drop-in service is extremely popular and cancelling the sessions seemed inevitable, until the Peer Support volunteers stepped up and moved the drop-in sessions to a virtual platform, allowing them to continue to provide support via video conferencing and telephone. Learning how to navigate this new online platform provided a challenge, but the Peer Support team was up for it!
Now, individuals log in to an online chat or call a toll-free number from their own home and connect with other survivors of brain injury, allowing them to break social isolation while maintaining social distancing. The Peer Support volunteers have embraced this new platform of communication and continue to provide support each week to survivors of brain injury.
Each Peer Support volunteer works a different one or two hour shift. Sometimes one or two people drop in for a session, sometimes they’ll chat with five or six people. Although each shift is different, the level of service and support remains the same, and we are pleased to be able to continue to provide this service to survivors of brain injury.
