Life Redesign Model™ 

At CONNECT, we are passionate about helping the people we support to redesign their lives after brain injury and stroke. Our superpower is our Life Redesign Model™, a transitional rehabilitation approach with an innovative coaching culture fostering interdependence.

The Life Redesign Model™:

  • A culture of personal accountability, supported risk-taking, social capital, and meaningful community participation.

  • Services planned around what the person wants more of in life. Participation in relevant life situations drives the person's goals.

  • Service plans leverage neuroplasticity by pursuing individual goals in real-life, non-institutional settings.

  • A "doing-with" coaching approach with blended job roles and a multi-professional coaching team.

  • Hire for fit based on personality and values, not qualifications.

How does CONNECT differ from a traditional care facility?

  • Empower individuals to create a meaningful life in a non-institutional setting.

  • Build a life that is driven by their own interests and goals.

  • Encourages personal responsibility.

  • Freedom to make their own choices and are coached to do so.

  • A doing-with rather than doing-for approach.

  • Eases the transition from hospital to home.

  • Supports smart risk-taking, while supported by a team.

  • Equip them to thrive in their community.

Leading Practice

Accreditation Canada deemed the Life Redesign Model™ (LRM) as Leading Practice in client and family-centered care for ABI services. Additionally, CONNECT has completed two Value Propositions, one from Lake Country data in 2017 and one from Hamilton data in 2024.CONNECT supports individuals after brain injury and stroke with its innovative LRM Model. Recent data from a CONNECT Hamilton reveal:

  1. Outstanding Personal Outcomes;

  2. Significant System Improvement Contribution;

  3. Value for Money; and

  4. Extensive Contribution and Alignment with Ontario Ministry of Health priorities.

To read a condensed version of the findings view Better Outcomes: The Power of Partnership and Innovation in Brain Injury

To read the full document, view CONNECT Hamilton Value Proposition: Positive Impacts of CONNECT Hamilton on People, Health Systems and Finances and its Future Potential

CONNECTs Life Redesign Approach

CONNECT believes all people are naturally creative, resourceful, whole, and wise. We approach Life Redesign holistically so that all aspects of health are addressed, including a person’s physical, functional, psychological, cognitive, emotional, behavioural, social, and cultural health. We support and coach individuals to design their lives in ways that are meaningful to them.

CONNECT aims to prevent the institutionalization of individuals after brain injury and stroke and bridge the gap between hospital care and home life. Our approach involves crafting Life Redesign Plans that integrate rehabilitation seamlessly into everyday life. Our services focus on maximizing a person's interdependence, dignity, and quality of life.

Badminton at CONNECT

The impact of CONNECT & the Life Redesign Model

“CONNECT believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. They encouraged me to set one small goal at a time and then celebrated with me when I achieved it. The goals eventually became bigger and bigger, and now I am living completely independently.”

— Person we supported

Creating a Comfortable Home-Like Environment

CONNECT environments are designed to feel non-institutional and to run just as a home in the community runs. There is no central housekeeping or cooking, everyone in the building does what they can, and our Life Redesign Coaches coach and support to make it all happen. The Life Redesign Mode™ embeds rehab into everyday tasks and activities the individual enjoys the people we support are always working towards less dependence.

A Team of Healthcare Professionals Empowering Personal Journeys

CONNECTs Life Redesign Model™ is all about the individual owning their own journey. We are committed to empowering the people we support to live a life that is meaningful to them. Our team of dedicated coaches, from a variety of backgrounds, helps them along the way. We are so committed to coaching that we have integrated coaching into our roles. CONNECT has a whole team of rehab professionals, but we named them specifically to emphasize the coaching aspects of their jobs.

Therefore, our Occupational Therapists are called Independence Coaches, our Physiotherapists are called Physical Coaches, our Recreation Therapists are called Play Coaches, our Nurses are called Health and Wellness Coaches, our Speech Language Pathologists are called Communication Coaches, and our Social Workers are called Social Wellness Coaches. The people working in the houses with the people we support are called Life Redesign Coaches.

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