Protecting Brain Health: BIAA’s Call to Action

Why Action is Needed

Brain injury is one of the most common threats to Brain Health in the United States and around the world that requires both preventive efforts and robust, long-term support for those affected. Protecting Brain Health both reduces the risk of brain injury across the lifespan and improves outcomes for those affected, including their loved ones, through support for recovery, reintegration, long-term health, and overall quality of life. At the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA), we believe that brain injury must be recognized as a central Brain Health issue.

We are ready to work alongside leading national and international medical, health, and research organizations, as well as the brain injury community, to ensure that the needs of people living with brain injury and their loved ones are fully represented in the national conversation and initiatives on Brain Health. Our goal is to make sure that the real-life experiences of millions of Americans living with brain injury and their loved ones have a voice and can shape the decisions that impact their health and quality of life.

What We Stand For

As the largest organization in the United States representing the needs of people living with brain injury and their loved ones, BIAA believes that:

1. Protecting Brain Health Encompasses Prevention, Treatment, and Support
Preventing brain injury is a core component of Brain Health, as are delivering timely and effective treatment and supporting lifelong recovery. All three are key Brain Health activities and must be recognized as such in national policy, research, and programs.

2. The Brain Injury Community Must be Part of the Conversation
Any Brain Health framework that focuses on injury prevention and cognitive wellness without addressing the real-world experience of brain injury, recovery, and long-term health effects, is incomplete. People living with brain injury, their loved ones, healthcare professionals, and brain injury advocates all belong in this conversation, not at its margins.

3. Now is the Time to Advance Our Work in Brain Health
For decades, BIAA’s programs, partnerships, and advocacy have advanced Brain Health by supporting prevention, optimizing recovery, managing symptoms that may change or persist over time, and improving the quality of life for people living with the experience of brain injury. The opportunity now is to elevate, connect, and expand this work, clearly naming it as Brain Health leadership and accelerate its impact nationwide.

How to Get Involved

We are calling on policymakers and organizations to include brain injury in national Brain Health strategies and agendas, and to recognize brain injury as a chronic condition with lifelong implications for Brain Health.

Contact us at info@biausa.org or fill out the partner interest form if you would like to connect with us to advance a more complete, inclusive vision of Brain Health for the brain injury community.

We encourage people living with brain injury, their loved ones, healthcare professionals, and community partners to engage with the Brain Health conversation. Learn more about Brain Health after brain injury and how to get involved with BIAA at biausa.org.

Fill out this interest form to receive news and information about Brain Health.

This issue brief reflects BIAA’s current position and will be updated as the field evolves. For questions or feedback, and media inquiries, contact info@biausa.org.