Brain Injury Organizations Release Joint Statement on Improving Communication about Brain Injury

The Brain Injury Association of America and a group of brain injury organizations and advocates have released a joint statement aimed at improving how brain injuries are discussed and understood. The guidance document, titled Communicating about Brain Injury, was developed collaboratively by healthcare providers, researchers, and people with lived experience of brain injury.

The statement provides a definition of brain injury and its causes, that it can develop into a long-term chronic health condition, and that it can sometimes lead to disability. The statement also includes 12 things to consider when talking about brain injury. First among ideas to consider is that the traditional classification system of mild, moderate, and severe is overly simplistic and fails to predict long-term outcomes or recovery paths. This follows recent developments in the field of brain injury to introduce a new classification system.

“This joint statement represents a great collaboration between the leading brain injury organizations,” said Rick Willis, President and CEO of the Brain Injury Association of America. “By working together, we’ve created guidance that can help ensure more clear and consistent communication between people with brain injury, caregivers, researchers, and healthcare professionals.”

People with brain injuries should be seen as whole individuals and should be actively involved in decisions about their care. This joint statement highlights the importance of recognizing that brain injury effects can be dynamic, sometimes improving or changing over time, and that supportive relationships and lifestyle choices can significantly impact recovery outcomes.

The guidance was created by a diverse group of leading brain injury organizations including the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine’s Brain Injury Interdisciplinary Special Interest Group, the Brain Injury Association of America and their Brain Injury Advisory Council, the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators, the North American Brain Injury Society, PINK Concussions, members of the former US Brain Injury Alliance, and the TBI Model Systems.

For more information and to view the statement, visit biausa.org/CommunicatingAboutBrainInjury.