Pos+Ability

Christina has been an instructor running these integratory sessions for Pos+Ability since January 2014. Not only has Christina been supporting those recovering from brain injuries for over half a decade, she also has first-hand experience supporting a family member living with a neurological condition. This means that she is better able to tailor her exercise classes for those recovering from brain injuries, because she knows exactly what exercises they need to help them in their day to day lives during their rehabilitation. 

With all this experience Christiana is able to make sure that her classes are accessible to all, and that is why anyone is welcome to join Pos+Ability’s sessions. As Christina said “lots of people may not have even considered the possibility that exercise could help them”, but no matter what age, physical exercise is a really important factor of neurorehabilitation.

The sessions are designed to improve coordination, stretch muscles and mobilise joints. All of Christina’s meetings have the same aim of helping integrate brain injury survivors back into society. By attending the sessions those recovering from brain injuries can improve their confidence as well as their physical health so that they can live a more independent life.

During Christina’s meetings there is a focus on improving physical health and coordination, but there is also a focus on the social side of recovery. As Christina explained “the group offers peer-to-peer support and friendship which also helps improve wellbeing.”

It can be really easy for those recovering from a brain injury to concentrate on just improving their physical condition. This can often mean that people ignore the other important aspects of recovery like building new social relationships. Pos+Ability aims to develop friendships and create support networks between those recovering from brain injuries so that the social aspects of recovery are not neglected. Facilitating these vital networks, but still letting them grow organically, can really aid people’s neurorehabilitation. 

By mixing with those who have similar experiences and creating friendships with other survivors at Pos+Ability’s sessions, people are able to share advice and offer support to one and other.

This peer-to-peer support and sharing of knowledge can really help integrate brain injury survivors back into society, and make them feel like part of the community once again.

One example of this support network is the annual Christmas dinner Pos+Ability hosts for its staff and clients alike. People from all the different groups get the chance to meet up together and get a sense of the size of the charity and just how far reaching their community is. This highlights that Pos+Ability is more than just an exercise class, it is an ever growing group of brain injury survivors who are all focused on helping each other recover and integrate back into society. 

During the government’s COVID-19 restrictions Christina and other instructors at Pos+Ability were able stay in touch with the community by telephone, post and email; as well as developing their online services so that they could offer virtual support. There were weekly exercise classes, but also regular online social groups, like quiz nights, which gave people the opportunity to catch up and make sure that everyone still felt together, despite being apart.

This virtual support was just as flexible and just as accessible as Pos+Ability’s face-to-face sessions are, and it meant that everyone could continue to get the support they needed. This is just another testament to the community that has developed around the sessions Pos+Ability run. 

Find more groups offering exercise sessions and support your social recovery using SameYou’s Neuro Recovery Directory today.