Health Services > Acquired Brain Injury Outreach Service (ABIOS)

The STEPS Skills Program

Detailed STEPS Skills Program Information | Print Friendly Version (pdf, 55kb)

The STEPS Skills Program is a 6-week facilitated information and skills-based group program which is held in people's local communities around Queensland for:

adults, aged 18-65 years, with acquired brain injury (including stroke)
their families and friends.
their carers and 'supporters', and
people who work with people with stroke or brain injury.

How Does it Operate?
The groups will ideally be led by someone from your local community, who will in turn have been trained as the leader of your group by STEPS Program staff. These staff are health professionals with expertise in dealing with families and people with acquired brain injury. STEPS Skills Program Leader Training will be delivered in flexible ways depending on communities' different needs across Queensland.

Skills Program Structure:
The STEPS Skills Program is generally offered as six weekly sessions, with each session lasting for 2 hours. There is a workbook with information and interactive group exercises, and a STEPS poster that summarises the STEPS Skills Program. The benefits for program participants might include:

working with others in the groupwork sessions on issues that will positively influence your health and well-being both now and into the future
thinking about ways to look after yourself
learning ways to get the support you need
enhancing relationships with family, friends, and others in your life
sharing everyday life experiences with others in your community
linking with others in your community to support people with brain injury & stroke
learning more about acquired brain injury and stroke.

One of the most important features of the STEPS Skills Program is sharing experiences and thoughts amongst other people in the group. The STEPS Skills Program is designed for people in the group to share and learn from each others' experiences. Often the people who we can learn the most from are people who are experiencing, or have been through, similar issues to ourselves.

A key part of the STEPS Skills Program is planning for a Local Community Activity in the final week of the program. Groups set a goal for a community activity in Week 2 of the Skills Program, and then each week plan towards this goal. Examples of typical community activities include a picnic in a local park, playing croquet, ferry ride to a local island, lunch together at a local coffee shop, and fish and chips at the beach.

Acquired Brain Injury Outreach Service (ABIOS)

The STEPS Skills Program

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