On A Good Day: Recent Episodes
Elizabeth Callaghan and Julia Ajayi
On A Good Day is the podcast delving into brain injury and its impact on all involved. Hosted by Elizabeth Callaghan and Julia Ajayi, our lives changed forever after our husbands suffered a brain injury. It also had a ripple effect on others in our wider family and community.
We’ll be sharing our experiences to help others feel more connected, get inspiring stories from people affected by brain injury and learn more about the condition from our specialist guests.
Expect honest conversations about what goes on behind closed doors: the challenges and triumphs, the good days and the not so good days.
Come join us as we aim to strengthen the communities of people impacted by brain injury and empower others in a similar situation to help them feel less alone and better equipped to take on any challenges - so we can all have more of the good days.
As season one of On A Good Day comes to a close, Elizabeth and Julia look back at some of their highlights and how the podcast has positively impacted them. Julia reveals how listening to episode 3 on positive risk helped shape her decision to take a family trip to Tanzania and Zanzibar. While Elizabeth reflects on the episode when she spoke about the five year anniversary of Paul's brain injury and how she is beginning to feel a level of acceptance for this new life. In this episode, the hosts talk about how sharing their story has helped them and the impact left by the guests they have interviewed to give knowledge, perspective and inspiration. Thank you for listening! Please go back and catch up on any missed epidoes, To help us grow, please share this podcast with others it will benefit and subscribe, rate and review to help make it more visible! Connect with Us On Instagram @onagood.day and Twitter @onagood_day Please join our NEW Facebook community too! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Conor Madden was playing his dream role of Hamlet when a sword fight went wrong and he suffered a brain injury on stage. In this episode, the Irish actor, who was 24 when it happened, tells Elizabeth and Julia his honest story of living with brain injury for the past 12 years . With humour and ease, Conor opens up about the challenges he has faced and how he has learned to love himself again after struggling with his identity. He talks about how therapy played a pivotal role in helping him manage the new behaviours such as anger and other effects a brain injury can bring. Recently a father, Conor says his daughter has had a huge impact on his life and recovery and he is eternally grateful to his wife Zara and the support she has given him over the years. In the episode Conor mentions the incredible therapy and support he received from Headway Ireland and ABI Ireland. Conor would like to thank: Zara, Aurora, my parents and the rest of my family, The staff at Cork University Hospital, The St Camiluses (Camil-uh-ses!) rehab team, ABI Ireland and, especially, Headway Ireland.
On A Good Day If you enjoyed this episode, please help us to grow: subscribe, rate, review and do share with others who it will benefit, tag us with the social media handles below. Follow Us On Instagram @onagood.day and Twitter @onagood_day Please join our NEW Facebook community too! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
"With the right help, at the right time, there can be life after brain injury, says Luke Griggs, the Chief Executive of Headway, the UK's leading brain injury charity. In this episode, he speaks to Julia and Elizabeth about his vision for Headway which provides much needed support and information for all affected by brain injury. The charity helps survivors, carers and wider family members for, as Luke recognises, the ripple affect of brain injury goes "far and wide". Luke has worked at Headway for the last 16 years but only recently took on the top leadership role. He reveals his own personal experience of brain injury, realising after he joined Headway that his grandmother had lived with the impact of a brain injury for the majority of her life without help or knowledge. Luke also talks about how he and Headway are lobbying government for more help and funding for brain injury survivors, asking for people affected by brain injury, to get in touch with their local MP and tell their story. Headway Visit the main Headway website. Luke spoke about the personal testimonies which people may find useful from its A New Me campaign. On A Good Day If you enjoyed this episode, please help us to grow: subscribe, rate, review and do share with others who it will benefit, tag us with the social media handles below. Follow Us On Instagram @onagood.day and Twitter @onagood_day Please join our NEW Facebook community too! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On Carers Week, Elizabeth and Julia pay tribute to the incredible work unpaid carers do and speak about their own personal experiences of caring for someone. There are 5 million carers in England and Wales who contribute a staggering £162bn to the economy but as Elizabeth and Julia discuss, the true number is likely to be far higher. New research from Carers Week show 73% of people providing care to others do not identify as a carer ( Elizabeth being one of them as she discusses) and therefore could be missing out on additional support and information. The hosts also look at some of the challenges facing carers as they juggle many other responsibilities and talk about some of the help available to them. Carers Week Carers Week is an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlighting the challenges unpaid carers face and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK. For more information, visit Carers Week We spoke to Sara Challice on episode 7, author of Who Cares, about being a carer and ways to manage self-care. Listen to the episode with Sara Challice on Spotify and click here to purchase her book Other useful links: Carers UK On A Good Day If you enjoyed this episode, please help us to grow: subscribe, rate, review and do share with others who it will benefit, tag us with the social media handles below. Follow Us On Instagram @onagood.day and Twitter @onagood_day Please join our NEW Facebook community too! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Volunteering has a huge range of benefits which Elizabeth and Julia explore in this episode of On A Good Day with their guests. They discuss how taking on a volunteer position, especially after brain injury can give survivors purpose, boost confidence, help improve communication and can positively impact the people they are in contact with. Elizabeth's husband, Paul Callaghan, and Julia's husband, Hector Ajayi, talk about their experiences of volunteering. Paul in the hospital where he underwent his neurorehabilitation and Hector at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge. Elizabeth and Julia are also joined by Kate Phizaclea who works with Hector at the museum as the Visitor Services Manager. She gives her take on the benefits of volunteering and why they are needed. Kate also reads a very touching feedback message from a visitor about Hector. For more information on volunteering visit: https://www.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk/ On A Good Day On A Good Day is the podcast which delves into brain injury and its impact on all involved. If you enjoyed this episode, please help us to grow: subscribe, rate, review and do share with others who it will benefit, tag us with the social media handles below. Follow Us On Instagram @onagood.day and Twitter @onagood_day https://www.instagram.com/onagood.day/ https://twitter.com/onagood_day Please join our NEW Facebook community too! https://www.facebook.com/groups/1216439455622395 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode, Specialist Occupational Therapist, Roisin Hyde, talks to Elizabeth and Julia about how families and friends can help brain injury survivors in their rehabilitation, months and years down the line.She advises on continuing to reset goals, working on achievable tasks and helping survivors push themselves further - but she also reveals some of the ways progress can be hindered.Roisin worked with Elizabeth's husband, Paul, when he first came out of hospital and speaks honestly about some of the "terrifying" moments she experienced during his OT sessions at home but how his determination and drive helped him to succeed.She also talks about the importance of 'positive risk taking' and discovering the 'just right challenge'. Roisin has a wealth of tips and knowledge to enable carers, family and friends to help brain injury survivors reach for their goals and gain more independence.Roisin Hyde is a specialist Occupational therapist working with Richmond Community Neuro Rehab and Early Supported Discharge Team.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating and review.Follow On A Good Day on Instagram @onagood.day and Twitter @onagood_dayhttps://www.instagram.com/onagood.day/https://twitter.com/onagood_dayLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This guest episode features the inspirational Satinder Sanghera whose life was turned upside down when she had a brain injury aged 20 while studying medicine. With hard work and determination, she defied many members of the medical board by qualifying as a doctor and going on to have a successful GP career. Satinder tells Elizabeth and Julia her story of brain injury and talks about the challenges she faced in the early days and some of the prejudices she has experienced. She gives advice on how brain injury survivors want to be treated by friends and family and opens up about the stigma surrounding stoke and how we can break down barriers surrounding disability. Satinder talks about the role her parents played in her recovery, without being “cotton woolers”, but enabled her to be more independent. A huge champion of others who’ve experienced brain injury, Satinder works with the charity Different Strokes where she has helped encourage others in similar situations to go out and enjoy life. She is determined to continue living a fulfilled life and doesn’t want the condition to hold others back from doing the same. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating and review. Follow On A Good Day on Instagram and Twitter @onagood.day https://www.instagram.com/onagood.day/ https://twitter.com/onagood_day Satinder is a trustee for Different Strokes, a charity which helps younger stroke survivors. https://differentstrokes.co.uk/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Elizabeth and Julia tell their stories of brain injury and why they were inspired to create On A Good Day podcast. Both had young children when their husbands suddenly suffered severe brain injuries. Miraculously, both men survived although the impact has reverberated long afterwards. In an honest and deeply personal episode, they talk about the moment their lives changed forever and what helped keep them going when the outlook looked grim. They talk about the advice they were given, trying to positive and present in the moment and showing strength in the face of adversity. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating and review. Follow On A Good Day on Instagram and Twitter @onagood.day https://www.instagram.com/onagood.day/ https://twitter.com/onagood_day Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On A Good Day is the podcast delving into brain injury and its impact on all involved. Hosted by Elizabeth Callaghan and Julia Ajayi, our lives changed forever after our husbands suffered a brain injury. It also had a ripple effect on others in our wider family and community. We’ll be sharing our experiences to help others feel more connected, get inspiring stories from people affected by brain injury and learn more about the condition from our specialist guests. Expect honest conversations about what goes on behind closed doors: the challenges and triumphs, the good days and the not so good days. Come join us as we aim to strengthen the communities of people impacted by brain injury and empower others in a similar situation to help them feel less alone and better equipped to take on any challenges - so we can all have more of the good days.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices