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Participants on the Partners in Policymaking programme relax between classes

INNOVATIVE ACTIVITIES

RehabCare services are both progressive and dynamic. They are supported by both a commitment to quality assurance and by research into best practice. Ongoing research and development ensures that RehabCare remains at the cutting edge of service delivery.

Examples of Innovative Activities includes:

Partners in Policymaking


Partners in Policymaking is an innovative leadership-training programme. The programme is aimed at parents of children with disabilities and adults with disabilities.

To date RehabCare have facilitated two Partners in Policymaking courses, with over 60 people graduating from the course. Over each of the two-day sessions, local, national and international experts on specific disability issues presented and interacted with the participants in sharing ideas on current policies, service concepts and practices in the disability sector. The objective of the course is that through interactive learning medium, participants will:

  • Understand the process in which services and policies are developed, and how they can positively contribute to this.
  • Develop the communication skills and devise strategies that will help them to become active in local and national legislative processes.
  • Gain the motivation to build coalition between families, agencies, and people with disabilities that will deliver a united powerful voice on priority policy issues within the disability sector.
  • Understand the type and range of support services that exist and their respective objectives e.g. respite care, person centre planning etc.
  • Understand the resources available to deliver services, and the positive efforts that they can make to increase these resources, and develop a reasonable expectation of what services can be delivered within available resources.

For information on future Partners in Policymaking course please email info@rehabcare.ie|

Raising Boys for Fathers


Raising Boys for Fathers is an innovative RehabCare course specifically designed to equip fathers with the information and confidence they need to manage and deal with their changing role in Irish society. The course also helps fathers to improve their communication skills, so that they are equipped and available to talk to their sons should they encounter any of life’s problems.

Fathers learn about research that shows that they can have a uniquely positive impact on their children’s lives and development. It also includes looking at how boyhood has changed in the past twenty years; the role of fathers; a discussion on how fathers are perceived by their sons, and information on what is happening for boys as they grow into men. The course includes a mix of discussion, information and helpful hints from the facilitators.

The ‘Raising Boys for Fathers’ course was originally developed by the North Western Area HSE and has been successfully delivered in that region for the past six years. The RehabCare course is delivered by specially trained facilitators whom themselves are fathers.

The course focuses on fathers and sons because of growing concerns about boys’ early school leaving, underachievement at school, road traffic accidents and suicides.

“The Raising for Boys for Fathers course has been specifically designed to address the needs of Irish fathers; to help them and their sons cope with new pressures in a changing world,” said Collette Ryan, course co-ordinator, RehabCare.

For further information and to register your place on the course, please contact Collette Ryan, RehabCare on (01) 205 7326 or email: raisingboys@rehabcare.ie

Rare Disorders


RehabCare is currently engaging in research to determine the support needs of people across the island of Ireland affected by rare diseases such as Prader Willi Syndrome; Cornelia de Lange; Rett Syndrome and Fragile X, Williams Syndrome; Cru du Chat; Neurofibromatosis; and Sotos Syndrome. Funded by the Health Research Board, the research includes consultation with a randomly-selected sample of approximately 1000 General Practitioners in Ireland (North and South) about their views on the provision of information on rare diseases and on the specific support services for patients and their families. Researchers from RehabCare are also meeting with families to discuss their social, emotional and information needs, as well as making contact and consulting with other health professionals in the field.

RehabCare is represented on the Rare Disease Patient Solidarity Project (RAPSODY), funded by Eurordis. In this project RehabCare is involved in a sub-group focusing on the development of respite services for those with rare diseases. This group aims to create a network of respite services which will provide for the education, learning and rehabilitation needs of people and families living with a rare disease, as well as developing a set of best practices to assist in overcoming the obstacles faced by respite care services.

For more information contact Arlene Sweeney on (087) 2446985

Lifeskills Course


RehabCare are running Lifeskills and Life coaching courses in 10 locations throughout Ireland. The target group for these courses are 15-24 year olds. The approach taken for this project is one of mental health promotion that means that we wish to target all 15-24 years old. The aim of the course is to provide the opportunity for young people to develop skills that will help them deal with inevitable life problems. As with many areas of our life e.g. sports, work or education we often avail of the use of coaches to enhance our skills and ability. This course enables young people to develop skills to get more out of life and deal effectively with life’s ups and downs.

Each Lifeskills course consists of 18 hours delivered over 6 sessions. Each session lasts for 3 hours. The topics and skills covered in the course include the following:

  • Self Awareness
  • Perceptions
  • Communications skills
  • Assertiveness
  • Thinking skills
  • Self confidence
  • Role Models
  • Problem Solving
  • Self esteem
  • Feelings
  • Goal Setting
  • Focus

The course is useful for young people who want to gain more out of life or who are currently experiencing life difficulties. While the course will help to empower young people to become more in control of their own lives, it is not a form of therapy or counselling.

For more information on this course please contact Collette Ryan on 01 2057326 or 086 8380218.

HeadsUp


Headsup is Rehab’s free 24 hour text service that enables young people to access a range of helpline and support services simply by texting the word “Headsup” to 50424. The confidential and fully-automated service, which is generously supported by Meteor, is the first of its kind in Ireland, and offers information on how to access support services for a wide range of issues such as relationships, suicide, sexual health and mental health.

In the first four months over 8,500 texts were received by the innovative new service. Through Headsup young people can receive, direct to their mobile, up-to-date and accurate contact numbers for organisations that can provide practical advice to their problems. The service is quick and easy-to-use, giving the user an immediate response to a wide range of problems.

Once a text is received by the service, the user is sent a list of topics they might like help with. There are 12 options to choose from: crisis, suicide, alcohol, drugs, mental health, debt, sexuality, abuse, gambling, sexual health, parenting and teen issues. The user chooses the topic and instantly receives a list of appropriate helpline numbers. The Samaritans, AL Anon, Aware, Women’s Aid, Childline, Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) and Bodywhys are among the many support services listed.

Working with both specialist and mainstream researchers, stakeholders, networks, professionals, practitioners and representative organisations, the project intends to build a conceptual framework, scope the research and policy horizon, construct an easy to use knowledge management system, provide a set of evaluated tools for practitioners, develop an overarching multi-sectoral policy platform and create a sustainable collaboration between the key actors to carry forward the results and deliverables.

Project Partners:


Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin (Germany), Work Research Centre (Ireland), Rehab Group (Ireland),Universiteit Maastricht (Netherlands), EWORX (Greece), FRK (Austria), ERSI (Estonia), STAKES (Finland), Mental Health Europe