Brain Injury Awareness Week Should be Every Day

Author: BrainTrust Canada
Published: 2009/03/14
Topic: Disability Awareness - Publications List

Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main

Synopsis: BrainTrust Canada is utilizing the timing of Brain Awareness Week March 16th to remind people to think about the importance of their brains every day.

Introduction

Focus

BrainTrust Canada is utilizing the timing of "Brain Awareness Week" the week of March 16th to remind people they need to think about the importance of their brains every day.

The brain is the most important part of the human body, as it controls all major functions: breathing, speech, motor control, emotions and 'executive functions' such as judgment and decision making. Of all types of injury, those to the brain are most likely to result in permanent disability or death.

"Brain injury is the single greatest health issue before us today," says Doug Rankmore, Chief Executive Officer of BrainTrust Canada. "Brain injury has been labeled an epidemic and is the greatest cause of death and disability under the age of 45 and the greatest cause of death for children under 20. In fact, 1 in 10 people in Canada are affected by brain injury, which equates to 10% or 3.3 million people of the people in Canada. However, 90% of brain injuries are preventable, and our goal is to increase awareness of the issue so people no longer need to suffer preventable injury. The costs associated with brain injury are astronomical: a conservative estimate of long-term care costs for just one person with serious brain injury is $3 million, not including lost wages, family breakdowns or suffering."

The highest risk target group for traumatic brain injury are 16 - 24 year old males, who are the focus for BrainTrust Canada's "Protect Your Head" brain injury prevention campaign, intended to increase awareness of the issue of brain injury prevention. The message is how drastically life can change after brain injury, in ways meaningful to this age group, i.e. not getting a date, losing friends or a job. The protectyourhead.com website was created by Kelowna design company Artistech New Media Inc.

Brain injury can result in a broad range of disabling conditions, i.e. physical (i.e. balance, speech, vision), cognitive (i.e. memory, impaired judgment) and psycho-social (i.e. depression, irritability, anger management). Brain injury is complex and 'multi-causal', resulting from a variety of causes such as stroke, motor vehicle crash, assault, sports, drug/alcohol abuse, toxins etc.

Reference: BrainTrust Canada is a progressive community rehabilitation organization dedicated to being a leader in brain injury prevention, as well as maximizing independence for persons with brain injury.