Brain Injury Portal Launched to Support Survivors and Families
June 9 2011: A distinctive new resource for people with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) was launched today, 9th June, by Minister of State Kathleen Lynch. The resource, www.acquiredbraininjury.com, was developed by Rehab. The project was led by people who use Rehab’s Quest Brain Injury Service in Galway, and it was made possible through a donation from Covidien, a leading global provider of healthcare products.
Speaking at the launch, Kathleen Lynch, Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, Equality, Mental Health & Older People said, “I am delighted to launch this new information resource. People with Acquired Brain Injury and their families can experience a huge and sudden change in their lives, and access to supportive, helpful and practical information is of great benefit to them. This website will be of immense value to many people, in Ireland and elsewhere. I would like to congratulate those involved, the survivors who use the Quest service, the Rehab Group and Covidien on this important initiative.”
Marie Kelly, Director of Training and Employment, Rehab Group, thanked all those who helped develop this innovative online resource. “Every day in our services we can see that there is an urgent need for centralised and accessible information for families, friends and for people with ABI themselves. Friends and extended family can be baffled, as they don’t understand the challenges of a brain injury, why a person is behaving a certain way, or what they can do that is useful to support someone. Often the information available can be overly-technical and hard to understand. This new portal provides a range of relevant information and resources that are easy to access. People have shared their experiences and worked hard to ensure that their stories can give comfort, hope and inspiration to people who have experienced a brain injury and their families.”
Speaking at the launch, Donal Balfe, Vice President, Manufacturing, Respiratory and Monitoring Solutions, Covidien, said: “Covidien supported the website through the Covidien Partnership for Neighbourhood Wellness programme – a focused and localised community involvement initiative. Covidien collaborates with local non-profit organisations to improve access to quality, affordable healthcare, as well as to provide resources to diagnose and treat specific diseases and chronic illness. Identifying worthy projects and assisting exemplary organisations such as Rehab is a real privilege.”
Advances in medical science have greatly increased the number of people who survive traumatic brain injury, but there remains a general lack of public understanding of how the brain functions and the many effects of brain injury. Reductions in cognitive ability and memory are two of the most common and significant effects of a brain injury, which can also cause mobility and/or speech impairment, anxiety and changes in mood.
The new website features graphical representation of the brain and its functions, video diaries of survivors of Acquired Brain Injury and other useful information on the brain. The site also offers a set of interactive exercises, memory tools and brain resources to support people with Acquired Brain Injury in their recovery and to track their progress. The site will continue to evolve over the coming months.
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