Important updates to our SameChat peer support programme
SameChat, our peer mentoring support programme that we run in partnership with Sphere Rehabilitation, has undergone some essential changes to ensure we support more people with their recovery.
The programme is part of a proof of concept to investigate how innovative interventions can help survivors and loved ones rebuild their relationships and lives after a traumatic event such as a brain injury or stroke.
The initial programme was created to give newly injured survivors and their supporters, as mentees, the chance to be mentored/buddied by those who had lived experience of brain injury.
But SameYou and Sphere Rehabilitation have recently held focus groups with survivors to evaluate the programme after finding very little uptake from newly injured survivors and their loved ones, but a lot of interest from those who were further ahead in their recovery journey. This made it difficult to create ‘matches’ and was delaying the programme.
The focus groups’ feedback outlined the importance of friendship, support and a shared connection with brain injury, especially for those in the early stages of recovery and their loved ones. They said focusing on those elements would be more effective than a formal mentoring scheme.
Changes to SameChat
This work led us to implementing the following changes:
The programme will now be called SameChat: Partnerships. This is to reflect the friendship/support the programme offers and will no longer be a formal mentoring scheme.
It will match survivors/their loved ones with those who have experience of brain injury and will try to match participants with a similar condition, where possible.
The options for survivors and their loved ones
Participants will either be matched in pairs for a monthly call or participants can choose to be part of a group of around 9 people on an online call.