COMOX VALLEY HEAD INJURY SOCIETY PRESENTS THE 17TH ANNUAL G&B JOHNSON BRAIN INJURY CONFERENCE
Brain Injury: It’s In Your Community
(Wednesday, April 21, 2010) Courtenay, BC – As part of the Brain Injury Awareness Month, the Comox Valley Head Injury Society (CVHIS) is proud to present their 17th Annual G & B Johnson Brain Injury Conference entitled Brain Injury: It’s In Your Community at the Best Western Hotel in Courtenay on June 17th & 18th 2010, featuring Ron Skelton, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Victoria and Michael Joschko, Ph.D., Registered Psychologist.
The goal of CVHIS is to create awareness in the community and invite everyone to attend. An agenda, speaker information, and registration form is available at www.cvhis.org. The community can benefit from being better informed of brain injury as it is a problematic result of our continued need to increase the speed of life. Many are not aware that even a concussion can be classified as a head injury and is in fact the most common. Be a part of the solution by better educating yourself and those you love.
With any type of brain injury, a life is changed in an instant forever. With medical advances, many people that would have died in previous years are now surviving severe brain injuries. Survivors and their family can be significantly affected financially, socially and emotionally. The estimated costs to Canadians associated with TBI are upwards of $3 million annually. Some survivors recover quite functionally, while others require a lifetime of support. This year approximately 6,000 Canadians will become permanently disabled from TBI and over 160,000 will suffer a brain injury. Broken down, that is 456 people per day or one person every 3 minutes.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a result of an impact to the head or forces causing damaging brain movement. Lead causes of TBI include car accidents, sports injuries, and even simple falls but differ by age group. TBI is the leading cause of death and disability among children which can be caused by violence. Non-traumatic brain injury (called acquired brain injury) can be caused by illnesses such as encephalitis, epilepsy, and brain tumors. An anoxic episode is where oxygen flow to the brain is compromised. This can be caused by events such as a stoke, cardiac arrest, or a near-drowning experience.
The results of a brain injury are unique to each survivor. Some similarities between survivors often include; memory loss, headaches, impaired reasoning skills, reduced emotional control abilities, and sensory impairment. Although recovery is dependent on a number of factors facing each individual, it is important to recognize that the survivor has changed and cannot be “fixed”.
The community of survivors, family members, and caregivers we support show remarkable initiative in their progress of recovery. It takes significant courage and hard work for everyone involved in order to achieve successful rehabilitation. CVHIS is primarily operational thanks to the involvement and dedication by survivors and volunteers. Because of this organizational structure, CVHIS provides increasing services for members.
Presenting this upcoming conference enables CVHIS to provide information that will assist in support and prevention of head injuries. The community at large will benefit from this event and are encouraged to seek further information through our services.
If you would like more information on this event, or the organization in general, please contact Heather Wade or Andréa Grigg at 250-334-9225 or at info@cvheadinjury.com.