Traumatic Brain Injury
Over 1.4 million people in the United States sustain a traumatic brain injury each year. The numbers of Pennsylvanians who experience a traumatic brain injury are staggering. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are over 245,000 Pennsylvanians living with brain injury. Those at highest risk for brain injury are young children ages 0 to 4 and adolescents ages 14 to 19. Older adults are also at increased risk of traumatic brain injury.
Why cite these statistics? The effects of a traumatic brain injury on the person as well as on the family are severe, dramatic and long lasting. Brain injury can result in cognitive impairment including memory loss, slowed ability to process information, poor judgment, and difficulty in concentrating among others. Physical effects include seizures, muscle spasticity, balance problems, loss of motor skills and control. The emotional and behavioral effects of traumatic brain injury include depression, mood swings, agitation, anxiety, and impulsivity.
Family members become rehabilitative specialists and personal care assistants, providing much of the therapies and hands-on support required, learning these skills in a crash course of “on-the-job” training. The need for support and information is great for persons living with traumatic brain injury and their families and friends. Of the many sites devoted to traumatic brain injury, the ones selected here provide clear and positive information for family and caregivers of persons with traumatic brain injury.
Acquired Brain Injury Network of Pennsylvania – extensive information regarding services and programs as well as advocacy and empowerment for people with acquired brain injury.
Traumatic Brain Injury.com - A comprehensive website of the Pennsylvania Brain Injury Association, providing information on causes, treatments, specialized hospitals and informational videos.
The Brain Injury Recovery Network – practical advice for people living with brain injury and their families created by the family of a young woman living the TBI. Advice from the crisis and long-term phase of hospitalization and rehab to insurance and financial issues, alternative therapies, care giver information, home modifications and more.
The Brain Trauma Foundation – best practice guidelines and clinical research and education of medical personnel.
Family Caregiver Alliance – Fact Sheet on Traumatic Brain Injury – An extensive overview of TBI with definition, facts, consequences (physical, cognitive, behavioral and personality), prognosis, recovery tips and rehab, Caregiving and resources for families.
Brain Injury Resource Center – a toolkit containing best practices and information on a wide range of topics involving brain injury of many types.
Preventing Traumatic Brain Injury in Older Adults – A colorful fact sheet containing signs and symptoms of traumatic brain injury in the older adult as well as tips on preventing injury including exercise, home safety review, medication review and vision screening.
Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center – The impact of recent TBI on family and what they can do to help the recovery process – problem solving, stress reduction and advice on assisting the person with traumatic brain injury.
