Patients and Families Receive Help through Brain Injury Services Coordination
 ctober is Brain Injury Awareness Month and it holds some startling statistics. Someone suffers a brain injury every 15 seconds with approximately 100,000 people dying yearly as a result. Of those who survive 80,000 live with a severe disability.
 Fortunately help is available for the estimated 800 people in East Tennessee each year who sustain life-altering brain injuries. A grant from the Tennessee Department of Health/TBI (traumatic brain injury) has funded a program called Brain Injury Services Coordination. Fees levied on traffic citations issued for speeding and DUI fund the grant.
Provided free of charge, this program assists brain injury survivors and their families orient themselves to life changes brought on by their impairments. Many people need assistance with housing, transportation, education, vocational assistance, Social Security, and insurance issues. It also acts as a clearinghouse for information, referrals, and resource library.
During the first nine months, approximately 50 East Tennesseeans and their families have found the help they desperately need. For instance, Ronnie, a 47-year-old man sustained a serious brain injury and broken neck in a motorcycle accident. After an intensive hospitalization, Ronnie was admitted to the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center for comprehensive rehabilitation.
Since his discharge in February 1999 he has been receiving outpatient therapy. Through brain injury service coordination, Ronnie has gotten help securing Social Security benefits, food stamps, transportation, and TennCare assistance with payment of his massive medical bills. Another bright spot in Ronnie's long recovery is his marriage to Bessie, who, along with the service coordinator, supports Ronnie's goal to regain more independence through therapy and return to work within a year.
The brain injury service coordinator's office is located at the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center. In addition to the coordinator position, Patricia Neal Rehab sponsors the Knoxville Area Brain Injury Support Group meetings. The group meets on the first Monday of each month in the 4West classroom at Fort Sanders Regional at 7 p.m. All survivors and their families are welcome.
If you know someone with a brain injury who could benefit from these free services, call Patty Cruze, coordinator at 541-1499 or visit our web site, www.patneal.org/pnrc-bisc-1.html.
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