Brain Injury Awareness Month 2017: Not Alone In Brain Injury

When someone sustains a traumatic brain injury, it is often not just the person living with brain injury whose life has been changed forever. Family members and friends often experience major life changes.

<p “=””>This month, as part of Brain Injury Awareness Month, we will honor those whose lives are affected by brain injury, including people living with BI, family, friends, caregivers and people working in the brain injury field. During this month, we will highlight stories of people living with brain injury, the work of caregivers and workers in the brain injury field, as well as feature helpful brain injury resources.

We want you to know that you are not alone in brain injury. We will be partnering with the Brain Injury Association of America to help spread this message, using the hashtag #NotAloneInBrainInjury. We encourage you to share your stories and photos on social media to let others know you support them.

About Brain Injury

In 2010, traumatic brain injury (TBI) was a diagnosis in more than 280,000 hospitalizations and 2.2 million ED visits. [1]

According to the Centers for Disease Control the leading causes of traumatic brain injury include:

• Falls (40.5%)
• Unknown/Other (19%)
• Struck by/against events (15.5%)
• Motor vehicle traffic (14.3%)
• Assaults (10.7%)

A TBI causes damage to the nerve cells that send information, which can cause changes in a person’s behavior and abilities. [2] According to the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center, there are generally three types of problems that arise after a traumatic brain injury:

• Physical
• Cognitive
• Emotional/Behavioral

Brain Injury Resource Library

We encourage you to visit our brain injury resource library for resources related to living with brain injury, as well as support for family and caregivers. Resources include:

• A four-part web video series about the Rancho Los Amigos Scale of Cognitive Functioning following TBI
• Our Traumatic Brain Injury Handbook given to every inpatient family who comes to Craig Hospital
• Numerous articles and fact sheets, including information about: Depression, Sleep, and Headaches.

Did you know Craig is a Model System Center?

Craig is part of the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems (TBIMS) program, made of 16 national centers and sponsored by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) , Administration for Community Living, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2016, (NIDILRR) awarded Craig a $3.3 million, five-year research grant to serve as the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems (TBIMS) National Data and Statistical Center (NDSC) for the third time since 2006.

Research

You might be able to participate in a research study!

The Craig Hospital Research Department currently has a staff of 22 with an annual budget of $3.8 million in federal, state, foundation, and industry-sponsored grants devoted to conducting a wide variety of applied spinal cord injury (SCI) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) rehabilitation research. Learn more about research opportunities for people with brain injury.

[1] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention. September 20, 2016

<p “=””>[2] Understanding TBI: Part 2 – Brain injury impact on individuals functioning. Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center. Thomas Novack, PhD and Tamara Bushnik, PhD. 2002