From My Desk

Greetings,

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month, and each year, the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) marks the start of it with our annual trip to Washington, D.C. These visits give brain injury advocates, survivors, and their loved ones valuable face time with their Congressional representatives and their staffers as they explain the need for federal funding and legislation that will improve the quality of life for people with brain injury.

Our community has rallied for many brain injury issues in the past, including reauthorization of the Traumatic Brain Injury Act and funding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s TBI program and the TBI Model Systems of Care. This year, we are leading the creation of a National Brain Injury Action Plan – a national strategy to improve treatment, research, and support.

Currently, there are no national standards, there is no guarantee of follow-up care, and there is no single roadmap for addressing brain injury in America. Providers lack consistent guidelines on screening, diagnosis, and treatment for brain injury, and proven treatments like rehabilitation and care coordination often aren’t covered by insurance. Our federal programs and services aren’t working from the same playbook – brain injuries and related conditions aren’t consistently tracked, hiding the full scope of the problem. You can learn more about our National Brain Injury Action Plan and what we’ll be proposing during our meetings with legislators on page 9 of this issue.

But Brain Injury Awareness Month encompasses more than our efforts on Capitol Hill. At its heart, it’s about spreading awareness – to our families, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and classmates – about the reality of living with a brain injury, and inviting them to join our movement. As we found out last year when we conducted a public opinion poll to determine the average American’s awareness of brain injury, there’s quite a bit they don’t understand. To help improve the public’s awareness and understanding of brain injury, BIAA, along with other brain injury organizations and advocates, released a joint statement aimed at improving how brain injuries are discussed and understood. “Communicating about Brain Injury” was developed collaboratively by healthcare providers, researchers, and people with lived experience, and includes not only a definition of brain injury and its causes, but also 12 things to consider when talking about brain injury. The document is available on BIAA’s website, and this Brain Injury Awareness Month, I encourage you to read it and share it with your community. I also invite you to take action this Brain Injury Awareness Month: join us in our advocacy efforts, participate in a fundraiser, take advantage of our educational webinars or certification programs, or get involved with your state affiliate or chapter.

Visit biausa.org/awareness26 to get started.