Page 38 - BusinessWest Sept. 29, 2021

Regaining Control
MHA’s New Way Staff Helps Residents ‘Invest Back in Themselves’
By Kimberley Lee
In addition to community-based program- ming, Nigel Cooper serves as program coordinator for one of nine residences
MHA operates as part of its New Way division in the Greater Springfield area for individuals with acquired brain injury.
The division, which also includes a day component, serves those whose brain injury is severe and acquired after birth as the result of a trauma or medical condition. Impairments can range from the physical to the cognitive to the behavioral.
“Our residents were not born with their dis- abilities,” Cooper said. “Some are college gradu- ates, some have had jobs, some have wives, hus- bands, children. Something happened in their lives, could be an accident, they could have had a stroke, something that causes the brain not to function as well as it did.”
The specialized care an acquired brain injury patient might need often results in a nursing- home placement, something Cooper calls “unfortunate,” as “some are 30 years old, 50 years old, and find themselves living their life out there. A week or month or days before, they were going through their everyday life in their community.”
This is when New Way, under division Vice President Sara Kyser, can help those referred by the state, after assessment by a skilled-nursing facility, transition from that facility into one of its neighborhood residences.
“We interview the individuals and find a good fit for them in one of our homes,” Cooper said. “Basically, we are transitioning them back to life. They may not have the same life as they had before, but we try to make it as close to that as possible.”
His determination and respect for New Way residents mirror how staff engage with them and the programming that includes both reha- bilitation and outreach. Services are aimed
at helping residents integrate back into their community life, be it through work, volunteer opportunities, or participation in the Resource Center, a New Way program that is also open to those with a disabling medical condition.
“Yes, we provide care, but what I like to say is that we provide support — the difference being that, whatever our residents can do,
we approach them to keep on doing that,” he explained. “That is where we meet them; that is where we start our work with them.
“We don’t want people to get discouraged
because they need support,” he went on. “There can be depression and a lot of anxiety. So, if someone can cook, we encourage that. If some- one can wash their clothes, we encourage that. If someone can bathe themselves, we encour- age that.”
“
to life. They may not have the same life as they had before, but we try to make it as close to that as possible.”
Basically, we are transitioning them back
The goal, he said, is “to build an indepen- dent life for them as far as we can with their injuries.” In the case of one resident in his 30s whose memory was greatly impacted by a drug overdose, this meant getting the support need to be matched with a job, finding his own way over time to and from certain destinations, and eventually moving from a four-bed New Way
New Way
Continued on page 55
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