Brain Injury Awareness Month
March is brain injury awareness month. Traumatic Brain Injury has been called the signature injury of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, over 265,000 veterans were diagnosed with a brain injury between 2000 and 2012.
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) is another word for a concussion. It is the most common form of TBI in the military population. The term describes the injury not necessarily the number of or severity of symptoms.
Every year 28,000 Virginians sustain a brain injury, over 1,400 die and over 5,000 are hospitalized. Nearly 190,000 are disabled as a result of a brain injury.
An injury that happens in an instant can bring a lifetime of physical, cognitive and behavioral challenges and early, equal and adequate access to care will greatly increase overall quality of life.
The Month of March has been proclaimed Brain Injury Awareness Month by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. For more information view the proclamation here.
Awareness Links for March 2013:
Materials
Resources