SameYou co-founders awarded MBEs for services to People with Brain Injuries

SameYou co-founders Emilia and Jenny Clarke have both been awarded an MBE for services to People with Brain Injuries in the King’s New Year’s Honours list.

Emilia helped to smash the stigma around brain injury in young adults after speaking publicly about surviving two brain haemorrhages – which led to thousands of young survivors around the world finally speaking out about their own battles and revealing that access to rehabilitation is shockingly inadequate and it must be made available to those who need it.

SameYou’s mission is to pilot recovery innovations that bring immediate benefits to brain injury survivors and their families. It operates with a small team and works with powerful partners globally to launch ground-breaking therapies and lead vital research into brain injury that wouldn’t be funded otherwise.

Now, the charity is launching a fundraising appeal to be able to continue to treat more people with its pioneering group rehabilitation programme called Neurorehabilitation Online (NROL).

Almost 1,000 patients have gone through this programme so far which has revealed lifechanging results. It is operated in real time via Teams, delivered by the NHS in London and Lancashire and is funded by SameYou.

It is asking for a donation of just £10 that would buy an online rehabilitation session for a brain injury survivor – with a vision to rolling NROL out further into the UK.

Current figures reveal that only 14-30% of stroke survivors receive the recommended amount of therapy, which includes physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy.*

There is no recommended amount of therapy for patients with neurological conditions, and fewer resources allocated, so survivors are likely to receive even less rehabilitation than stroke survivors.

The NROL programme is made up of ten important components including physiotherapy, advice on how to live well, support for cognitive communication difficulties, ways to improve speech and a ‘café’ group for support and discussion.

This one-to-many model means it is cost-effective and ensures therapists can treat more patients – and deliver outstanding outcomes.

Jenny, who is also CEO of SameYou, says: “Emilia and I are both extremely honoured to accept this award on behalf of every brain injury survivor who has struggled to access quality rehabilitation and has had to fight for their own recovery.

“It’s absolutely essential that brain injury survivors know they haven’t lost the person they were before. With programmes such as Neurorehabilitation Online, it helps patients to take back power to control their own recovery and is an extra layer of support that we know is clearly missing.

“The results of NROL have been astonishing. Please support our appeal to enable more NHS Trusts to take on this programme to really highlight what it can do to change so many lives.”

Nearly 1 in 3 people will have an Acquired Brain Injury at some point in their lifetime.

*Source: SSNAP (strokeaudit.org)

See NROL video here