Brain Injury Awareness Week - breaking down the barriers
13 October 2009
Fleshing out ideas to meet the challenges of returning to work after sustaining a brain injury was the focus of a forum held by ARCsupport, a branch of Karingal and sponsored by MatchWorks
The Employment after Brain Injury forum, held on September 14 to mark the start of Brain Injury Awareness Week, was held at the TAC Auditorium in Geelong.
The highly informative forum was attended by clients, carers, family and employers.
It featured keynote speaker Philippa McRae from head2work, which is part of the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit at Sydney’s Liverpool Hospital.
Richmond Football Club Defender Graham Polak, who recently made his comeback to AFL football after being hit by a tram in June 2008 where he sustained a life-threatening brain injury, was also in the crowd.
An Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) is damage to the brain that has occurred after birth as a result of accident, trauma, stroke, brain infection, alcohol or drug abuse or by disease to the brain. One in 50 people across Australia have an ABI, which equates to about 2.2 per cent of the population.
ARCsupport Manager Jacqui Pierce said it wasn’t only the injured person who faced challenges reintegrating into the workforce but also their families, carers, employers.
Jacqui said support was vital and the first step was finding the right ways to provide assistance to all stakeholders through the process.
“There are challenges with all areas of employment for people with acquired brain injury and the feedback we have had is that their needs aren’t being particularly well addressed,’’ she said.
“From a person with a brain injury’s perspective, they felt that employment services struggled to assist them in the right way.
“From family carer’s perspectives they often felt that employment issues added more stress to an already traumatic and difficult situation.
“Employers sometimes struggle because they don’t know how to assist and support the person with the brain injury to come back to work.’’
While there were obstacles that needed to be overcome, Jacqui said engaging in employment for people with an ABI was a vital first step on the road to rehabilitation and recovery.
“If we don’t get the employment part right for people – that often leads to other issues like depression.
“It’s a really critical step in the journey back to the most normal life possible following brain injury.”