Making headway on brain injuries
Almost 40 years ago I encountered a young man in a hospital bed, surrounded by his wife and small children, who was being taught to feed himself and speak. A postman; slipping on ice, his brain was injured when he hit his head on the pavement - a simple event that changed that family’s life for all of time.
From then on I became interested in acquired brain injury (ABI) and so when I was elected to Parliament, I began, and have since continued, my relationship with the charity Headway. Proud to be associated with the work they do, I am also proud to have helped to bring to the House of Commons a debate on acquired brain injury.
That young man all those years ago has, sadly, been followed by many others. It’s not always a simple event that leads to such injuries; it is often a car or motorbike accident, with young men disproportionately affected by traumatic injuries of this type. Yet the results of an ABI, no matter how complex and varied, share common themes.
The first is of course the immediate traumatic effect—invariably dealt with efficiently and effectively by the National Health Service. All those associated with it deserve credit for providing that treatment. However, the ongoing issues associated with ABI are met with various kinds of responses.
Sometimes the follow-up care is good, strong and effective, but that is not always the case. People’s speed of recovery can vary, as can the effect of their injury on their life, competence and skills.
To deal with these changed lives we must focus on a small number of simple aims. We need to ensure that all the relevant agencies — charitable, Government and local government— work together; we need to understand that brain injuries might require care and treatment over a very long time; we need to drive this issue up in the consideration of all public policy makers and those who make policy in the health service in particular; we need to pool resources and target them where they can have the greatest effect; and we need to build on the experience of Headway and other groups. To which end, international studies — particularly those relating to the United States of America — need to be revisited.
Knowledge of ABI is vital to get brain injured people back into work, which is often their aim. We should work with educators and employers to enable them to understand that the pathways people follow must be attuned to their complex and changing needs.
If we can achieve all that, we will be sending a signal to all those affected, as the postman I met was, that in the words of C. S. Lewis:
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream”, regardless of the misfortunes you suffer.
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