Person we support fishing with a Life Redesign Coach at CONNECT Communities

Group camping trip with people supported at CONNECT Lake Country, BC

Person playing badminton with a Health Coach at CONNECT Hamilton

Adaptive kayaking near Science World in Vancouver with a CONNECT coach

The coaching team at CONNECT Communities

Person we support at an art class at CONNECT Communities

Movement class led by a physiotherapist at CONNECT Langley

Aerial view of CONNECT Lake Country brain injury rehabilitation home

Community trek with people supported and the coaching team at CONNECT Lake Country

Life Redesign Model — CONNECT Communities

Rehabilitation
rooted in
living independently

Most rehab happens removed from the routines, relationships, and places that make life meaningful. At CONNECT, it happens right in the middle of real life.

How it works

The Life Redesign Model™

It starts from a simple belief: the best place to rebuild a life is inside one. Not a ward. Not a clinical program. A real home, in a real community, with a team of coaches who are there because they genuinely want to be.

Your story and your goals shape the plan from day one. Rehab happens inside real routines, cooking, community, sport, connection, because that is where change actually sticks. The journey continues until independence belongs entirely to the person living it.

The Life Redesign Model diagram showing the journey from entry through neuroplasticity and real life rehabilitation to independence

Hired for personality and values, not qualifications

Goals driven by what the person wants

Neuroplasticity through real-life settings

A "doing-with" coaching approach

Personal accountability and supported risk-taking

Leading Practice — Accreditation Canada

The Life Redesign Model™ is a trademark of CONNECT Communities, designated a Leading Practice by Accreditation Canada in client and family-centred care for ABI services.

Why it's different

A different kind of place, on purpose

Most rehabilitation happens in a facility built around efficiency and safety. CONNECT was built around a life.

A typical facility

CONNECT

Rehab happens in scheduled sessions, in a clinical room, separate from daily life.

Rehab happens while cooking dinner, walking the dog, catching a bus. Real life, as it happens.

Staff are assigned by title, moving between many patients on a schedule.

Coaches are hired for who they are, and work alongside a small number of people they actually know.

Goals are set by a care plan, based on what the system can offer.

Goals belong to the person: their sport, their choir, their kitchen, their version of a good life.

Success is measured by a discharge date and a checklist.

Success is measured by whether someone can build the life they actually want.

What this looks like

Not abstract. Actual life, actually lived

Not "community participation" on a care plan. Sailing. Badminton. A trek in the mountains. An art class. A choir. Whatever building a life actually looks like for that person.

Person fishing with a Life Redesign Coach at CONNECT Communities

Fishing with a coach, not a supervised outing

Badminton with a Health Coach, CONNECT Hamilton

Adaptive kayaking near Science World in Vancouver

Adaptive kayaking near Science World, Vancouver

Group camping trip at CONNECT Lake Country

A group camping trip, Lake Country, BC

An art class, at a pace that belongs to her

Who walks with you

A team of coaches, not caregivers

Every person at CONNECT works with a small, consistent team who know them by name. The titles are different on purpose. They reflect what the role actually is: someone who coaches you toward the life you want, not someone who manages your care.

Life Redesign Coach

The main person in your corner. They get to know your story, help build your Life Redesign Plan, and walk alongside you day to day, not just during scheduled sessions.

The anchor role at CONNECT, hired for fit and belief in the model above formal qualifications.

Independence Coach

Helps rebuild the everyday skills that make a life feel like your own again, cooking, dressing, managing a home, at your pace.

Traditionally an Occupational Therapist.

Physical Coach

Works on strength, movement, and balance, using the things you actually want to do again as the goal, not a set of exercises.

Traditionally a Physiotherapist.

Play Coach

Believes the best rehab happens when you're having fun. Sport, art, music, whatever brings a person joy and a reason to keep going.

Traditionally a Recreation Therapist.

Health and Wellness Coach

Looks after the medical side of things, medication, appointments, physical health, so nothing falls through the cracks.

Traditionally a Nurse.

Communication Coach

Helps rebuild speech, language, and the confidence to be understood again, in real conversations, not just in a clinic room.

Traditionally a Speech-Language Pathologist.

Social Wellness Coach

Supports relationships, community connection, and the emotional side of rebuilding a life after brain injury or stroke.

Traditionally a Social Worker or Counsellor.

Every coach on this team is hired for personality and values first. Qualifications matter, but belief in the person matters more.

In their words

What Life Redesign actually sounds like

"CONNECT actually does what the name suggests. It connects you to yourself and to this family of people living here and the people working here."

Richmond, former resident

"I call them my brain wizards. These are pretty special people who do good work for people like me. I'm very, very fortunate."

Dan, former resident

"

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

Person we supported

0%

move home or to less dependent settings

0+

years refining the Life Redesign Model

0

bedrooms across BC and Ontario

The evidence

The model works. Here is the proof

CONNECT has completed two independent Service Evaluations, one from Lake Country data in 2017 and one from Hamilton data in 2024. Both confirm what the Life Redesign Model sets out to do.

1

Outstanding Personal Outcomes

2

Significant System Improvement Contribution

3

Value for Money

Read the findings directly. Choose the version that works for you.

4-page summary

Better Outcomes: The Power of Partnership and Innovation in Brain Injury

Download PDF

Full report

CONNECT Hamilton Service Evaluation: Positive Impacts on People, Health Systems and Finances

Download PDF

Ready to talk?

The Life Redesign Model, in practice

You have seen how it works and why it works. The next step is a conversation, whenever you are ready for one.

For referral partners

Referring a client to CONNECT?

Lawyers, case managers, OTs, and insurers, we work closely with you to support your client and generate the documentation your case needs.

Start a referral conversation

For people and families

Is CONNECT right for someone you love?

If someone in your life is living with brain injury or stroke and you are wondering what comes next, we would love to talk. No pressure, no clinical intake forms.

Let's talk

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