– COVID19 Impact Update –
During these trying and unprecedented times, the BCBIA will attempt, as best as possible, to maintain its strong presence and voice for the brain injury community in BC. With the ability to use Brainstreams.ca as our platform we are able to communicate relevant and up to date issues in regard to brain injury. We will attempt to respond in a timely manner to all questions and enquiries made to Brainstreams.ca.
For information in regards to COVID19 please contact:
Public Health Agency of Canada: 1-833-784-4397
HealthLinkBC (8-1-1) at any time or speak with your BC health care provider.
BCCDC’s website: http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19
Cultivating Community is Cultivating Kindness
New Video!
BCBIA was pleased to release a new video on an amazing garden project in Langley at it’s AGM on September 15th. The video features the Kreiter family and demonstrates the amazing benefits of creating community.
Cultivating Kindness is the story behind Opportunity Landing, a non-profit society dedicated to developing and maintaining a space for inclusive, accessible community gardens in Langley BC.
Juliet Henderson-Rahbar, is a board member of the BC Brain Injury Association, and the Leader for Connect Communities in Langley—a place where people who’ve survived a life-altering brain injury can begin to redesign their lives in the community. Earlier this year, Juliet came across an article on Opportunity landing in the Langley Advance Times https://www.langleyadvancetimes.com/news/new-langley-community-garden-gets-test-run-this-spring-at-twu/.
After seeing the design and the nearby location, Juliet knew this inclusive, outdoor space accessible to the people supported at CONNECT would be a tremendous opportunity. To read the full blog post and to watch this beautiful video, click here.
British Columbia hosts its first annual Concussion Awareness Week.
September 26th to October 2nd is British Columbia’s first annual Concussion Awareness Week. The BC Injury, Research and Prevention Unit (BCIRPU) and Concussion Awareness Training Tool (CATT) have partners to run a campaing aimed at raising awareness about concussion and to encourage British Columbians to learn how to prevent, recognize, respond to, and manage this invisible injury.
Each year in BC, 600 individuals are hospitalized for a a concussion, and an estimated 14,500 visit the emergency departments.
To download your Concussion Awareness Tool Kit, and to learn more about concussions, access the post and links here.
Emerging Issue in Canada – Intimate Partner Violence & Brain Injury (IPV/BI)
Violence between intimate partners is a critical concern in British Columbia and around the world. More than 90,000 Canadians report being victims of domestic violence to the police annually, with women accounting for eight of every 10 of those victims. We don’t know how many other cases go unreported.
Research over the last decade has produced unsettling evidence that at least 75 per cent of victims of intimate partner violence are living with one or more brain injuries due to having been beaten or strangled by a current or previous partner. Thirty per cent of all violent crimes reported to police in Canada involve intimate partner violence, and estimates are that more than 200,000 women a year are receiving brain injuries inflicted by their intimate partners.
This is new information for our communities, province and country. Designated services and supports for people who have experienced a brain injury as a result of domestic violence are virtually non-existent in Canada at this time.
Developing informed services and supports is obviously an urgent aspect of what needs to be done. But there’s an equally urgent need for improved screening, training for professionals, and surmounting a deep-rooted double stigma that stubbornly affects society’s views and actions on the subjects of both domestic violence and brain injury.
As research efforts take hold across Canada on this emerging issue, read more about what is being learned right here in BC through a research partnership between the University of BC and the Kelowna Women’s Shelter.
To view a video on this topic, click here.
To view a blog post on IPV/BI, click here.
Important Resource Listings: ABI Toolkit, SoarProject, & CATT
Featured Resources and Learning
The Faces of Brain Injury
Behind every brain injury diagnosis is a real person. We are pleased to share The Faces of Brain Injury, a series of digital posters sharing a brief snapshot into the lives of brain injury survivors.
To learn more about this project, click here.
A National Hidden Disability Symbol: It is time. It is right. It is needed.
Consider becoming an ally and join the movement for a national Hidden Disability Symbol in Canada.
Co-founders of the Hidden Disability Symbol (HSDC) movement are: Maeri Perra, Communications Manager, Brain Injury Society of Toronto, Michelle McDonald, Executive Director, Brain Injury Canada, and Laura Brydges, Member of the hidden disability community, and Administrator, facebook.com/HiddenDisability.
This team has prepared a communication kit for individuals or organization to release before August 24, 2021. To learn more, click here.
Research Study: The Experiences of Self-Identity, Self-Awareness, and Occupational Engagement in Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury
Are you interested in sharing your experiences of life after traumatic brain injury? If so, your involvement includes completing five questionnaires and an intereview. A $30 cash honorarium is available for your time. Check out our blog for more information.