In visioning the housing needs of people living with an acquired brain injury, we abide by four core principles. These principles allow us to take a holistic approach to where and how our tenants live, and where and how they connect with the world around them.
My home is in an area where I can stay socially connected.
My home is designed to meet my needs over my lifetime.
My home supports me to reach my potential and facilitates my rehabilitation and independence.
My home is a hearth which is safe, warm and comforting, enabling me to belong.
Our core principles are underpinned by a Universal Design Approach, to achieve eight interwoven goals:
Comfort
Awareness
Social Integration
Understanding
Personalisation
Health and Wellness
Cultural Appropriateness
Body Fit
Having a serious brain injury is completely life altering for both the person and their family. Depending on the extent of the injury, the person will have to live with many consequences, some of them hidden, others not. They include physical, cognitive, sensory and psychological issues.
These impairments have so many effects including social and economic isolation, loss of income and employment, changes in relationship status and family dynamics. Crucially, they also result in needing specialist and other housing alternatives, given the life altering and lasting nature of brain injury.
Brain injury survivors and their families require a wide range of services and supports on the pathway from hospital to home, to maximise their participation, independence and potential in life.
Anvers Housing actively advocates for a broader, more holistic approach to housing, taking all the above named components into account. We fill the gap in knowledge around the specific requirements that maximise the quality of life and the rehabilitation potential of the person with brain injury in their home.
And we are working hard to address the urgent and growing need for our properties.
At Anvers Housing, we believe that the environment and design of the living space impacts directly on the effectiveness of rehabilitation of the person with acquired brain injury (ABI). Appropriate, quality design ensures that their rehabilitation is supported and removes the barriers to independence.
In pursuing a universal design approach, our aim is to put the person with brain injury at the centre and use a co-design process to drive the change we believe is necessary for housing provision for people living with ABI.