Working Toward More Supports For Individuals with Brain Injury

As I am writing this blog, I have also been working on putting together a proposal for a grant that would allow Career Solutions at the Ollie Webb Center to start a new support group for individuals with brain injuries that has a focus on employment issues.  At this time in our state, there is a lot of support from medical and rehabilitation facilities in the time that directly follows a brain injury.  Yet, when individuals who are a few, or several, years post-injury and are trying to make sense of their new life with a brain injury, the supports are much fewer.

I wrote last week that I am lucky to be involved with a grant from Nebraska Vocational Rehabilitation that provides supported employment services for individuals with brain injury.  However, these supports are time-limited and once the funding runs out, individuals with brain injuries may find themselves again in a situation where they are struggling and not sure where to turn.

Finding and maintaining employment following a brain injury is a big part of re-entering a new normal.  Having a job means an opportunity to make connections with others.  It allows an individual to have a sense of purpose and fulfillment which can reduce or eliminate depression that some individuals deal with following a brain injury.

The purpose of this support group is to allow individuals a place where they can have support for wherever they are at in the journey toward employment.  It also allows individuals the opportunity to learn from one another and to support one another from a sense of understanding that those without brain injury may have difficultly with no matter how supportive they want to be.

A statewide Nebraska TBI Needs and Resources Assessment Survey conducted in 2010 highlights the health challenges and barriers to services and support for individuals who have experienced traumatic brain injuries. 

Those who responded to the survey reported significant adverse changes to their lives resulting from a brain injury, most citing changes to their physical health, emotional well-being and ability to earn an income. They also reported experiencing barriers that prevented or limited access to needed services and supports, such as a lack of financial resources, geographic and transportation issues and limited awareness of brain injury among professionals.

Among the most important needs identified were cognitive training, counseling and behavioral support to address problems that occur daily as a result of an injury.  These problems affect the individual who experienced a brain injury as well as their families.

The survey revealed that in Nebraska: every day, at least one person dies from a traumatic

brain injury (TBI); three people are hospitalized; and over 24 people a day visit the

emergency department because of TBI. 

More than 300,000 people have suffered a brain injury including concussions and more than 36,527 individuals live with a disability caused by a traumatic brain injury.

The monetary cost associated with TBIs in Nebraska was over $413,000,000 in 2009. This estimate includes both fatal and nonfatal injuries, medical costs and productivity losses.

It is estimated that the lifetime costs per individual with a brain injury are:

Mild brain injury - $85,000

Moderate brain injury - $941,000

Severe brain injury - $3 million

In the last five years, there has been a steady increase in emergency department visits, hospitalizations and deaths caused by a traumatic brain injury.  Emergency visits for brain injury in Nebraska are higher than the national average.

The most frequent cause of a TBI is a fall, especially in those under one year old and over 65. Males, 25-44, have the highest incident of brain injury due to being struck in the head, struck against something or involvement in a car crash.

Lives are changed by a traumatic brain injury, most notably physical health, emotional well-being and loss of income. The entire family is affected.

(2010 Needs and Resources Assessment, Schmeeckle Research Inc. This project was supported in whole by TBI Implementation Partnership Grant #H21MC06758 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB).

Our plan is to get this support group running in November 2014.  It will take support from a lot of people. Namely, it will require us to provide a group that is worthwhile and productive for those involved.  If you know of someone who has experienced a brain injury. I am currently seeking input from potential members of the group.  The group will grow to have its own identity and I hope that it will also include family members and employers who are wanting to support the cause also.

This is an exciting, new opportunity and I look forward to this chance to provide support, and to learn and grow from the experiences of others.  Let's get to work!