Fares4Free support Trauma Rehabilitation Study
ADVANCE is the Armed Services Trauma Rehabilitation Outcome Study….
Mike Brown, the Fares4Free Outreach Support Driver for Edinburgh and the Borders Area recently supported Scott to participate in the ADVANCE Armed Services Trauma Rehabilitation Outcome Study. ADVANCE investigate the long-term physical and psycho-social outcomes of battlefield casualties from the UK Armed Forces following deployment to Afghanistan between 2002 and 2014.
Cpl Scott Brown served with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders for 18 years prior to being medically discharged in 2019. He proudly completed 5 tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it was during a tour of Afghanistan in 2011 that he was struck by an IED whilst out on patrol, resulting in a large bolt striking him in the right side of his head above the eye. Scott returned to active duty after this incident and returned to Afghanistan but was diagnosed with complex PTSD which resulted in his subsequent discharge.
“It was amazing that Mike was able to take me as it took away all the stress and anxiety that taking the train would have caused me. Mike was able to spend time with me in the evening and I was really relaxed going to my appointment. Fares4Free provided an excellent service for me and I would thoroughly recommend them to anyone.”
Cpl Scott Brown Retired, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
ADVANCE Team Information and Feedback
“ADVANCE is a lifetime cohort study investigating both the physical and psycho-social outcomes relating to serious combat injury. What we find out from our ADVANCE participants will provide unique information that will be essential to the care of survivors of serious injuries, military or otherwise, across the globe. You can find out more about the study here: https://www.advancestudydmrc.org.uk.
The study has enrolled nearly 1,145 serving and discharged combat veterans, who are followed over their lifetime. Participation involves a baseline visit and at least five subsequent follow-up visits at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) Stanford Hall in Leicestershire, where the study is based. Our participants are invited to travel to us from all over the UK, Europe (and further afield) and spend a day at DMRC Stanford Hall where they have a full day of clinical tests including; brain MRI scans, cardiovascular tests, mental health assessments, cognitive function tests, lung function, X-rays of knees and hips, lung function tests, and blood tests amongst many other tests.
It’s so important to keep seeing our research participants at regular intervals and collect as much clinical data as we can. Participants have already been in for 2 visits so far, and we are currently working on follow up 2 – approximately 6 years after their initial visit. Our participants are amazing, they are really engaged with the study and are keen to take part. However, we are fully aware that sometimes problems with mental health or physical ability can be a barrier for people when planning their visit – particularly when it comes to travel.
We recently had a participant based in Scotland who wanted to come in for his visit, but he knew that the train journey, which would have involved at least 4 stops, would not have been doable for him. The ADVANCE team were doing their best to explore a range of options to make this journey easier but this was proving challenging. This is when the participant, Scott, introduced the team to Fares4Free. Fares4free are a wonderful charity who support veterans, particularly those with mental health needs, get to medical and mental health appointments. Their friendly team were more than happy to help and drove Scott all the way down from Scotland to Loughborough for his appointment and back again the next day. Without this service Scott was probably going to have to miss the opportunity to participate in ADVANCE.
We’re hugely grateful to Scott for the introduction and everyone at Fares4free who assisted in getting Scott to ADVANCE. We’re really looking forward to working with them more in the future and are excited to see how the charity grows in the coming years.”
Tass White, Clinical Operations Lead, ADVANCE Study, DMRC Loughborough
This trip was only made possible due to the funding received from the Army Benevolent Fund (ABF). For more information on how you can support the ABF please visit their website at https://armybenevolentfund.org.
