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September is Brain Injury Awareness Month
LEXINGTON - The Brain Injury Association of America, through its annual Brain Injury Month initiative, is focusing on improving the lives of individuals living with brain injuries. According to BIAA, a brain injury occurs every 23 seconds and approximately 5.3 million Americans currently have long-term or lifelong need for help to perform daily activities as a result of a traumatic brain injury.
"Yet given this nationwide problem, public awareness of brain injury is very low," says Mike Gieseke-Smith, director of community support services at Rockbridge Area Community Services. "In recognition of Brain Injury Awareness Month, we hope to raise awareness of local resources to assist those with traumatic brain injury," said Gieseke-Smith. "Living with a brain injury is a lifelong process. An individual's life and self can be changed forever in an instant. Some days the individual may have the physical and emotional strength to maneuver through the day with ease, other times, handling the day's details can feel overwhelming. Education about what brain injury is like, and the education of family and friends, is one of the most important things that can help the person that is experiencing life after brain injury. Resources that help individuals look ahead to picking up activities like employment, independent living, and other essential functions are key to the road to recovery. RACS has staff and programming that can assist."
According to Gieseke- Smith, the RACS supported employment program can help individuals with traumatic brain injury return to work or to go to work for the first time. He explained, "By providing contact with potential employers and by providing one-on-one job coaching when a job is secured, the supported employment job coach is at the individual's side until the individual, the employer, and the job coach are all satisfied that the individual can perform all the duties of the job on his or her own. The job coach will then continue contact with the individual and employer on a regular basis to make sure that things are still going smoothly and no problems have risen. If a problem does arise, the job coach will begin working with the individual again to overcome the problems."
For more information about local resources for individuals with traumatic brain injury, contact Gieseke-Smith (540) 462 6642. For employment opportunities for individuals who have suffered traumatic brain injury, contact Adam Sass, supported employment program manager for RACS at (540) 462 6664.
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