Krempels Center celebrates Brain Injury Awareness Month
PORTSMOUTH — Every March, the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) leads the nation in recognizing Brain Injury Awareness Month, a time to acknowledge and support the millions of Americans impacted by brain injury. The theme for the 2021-2023 awareness campaign is More Than My Brain Injury.
An acquired brain injury (ABI) is any injury to the brain that is not hereditary, congenital, degenerative, or induced by birth trauma. ABIs – from trauma, stroke, infectious diseases, and brain tumors – are a serious public health issue in the United States, where someone sustains a brain injury every nine seconds. According to available data, more than 5.3 million Americans live with brain injury-related disabilities at a cost exceeding $76.5 billion (in 2010 dollars) annually.
“For many, brain injury evolves into a chronic health condition that changes who they are and how they interact with the world,” offered Susan H. Connors, BIAA’s president and chief executive officer. “Raising awareness of the impact of brain injury and making sure people have access to the support they need is essential – not only in March, but throughout the year.”
The More Than My Brain Injury campaign provides a platform for educating the public about the incidence of brain injury. It aims to de-stigmatize the injury, highlight the diversity of the brain injury community, and empower those who have survived. Information on Brain Injury Awareness Month, including educational material and downloadable collateral, is available at biausa.org/raiseawareness.
Individuals in need of information, resources, and support after brain injury may speak with a brain injury expert by contacting BIAA’s National Brain Injury Information Center at 1-800-444-6443, and locally may call Krempels Center in Portsmouth at 603-570-2026 ext. 220.
For March, Krempels Center staff and interns facilitated video recordings of members describing in their own words how they are more than their brain injuries. Eight Krempels Center members who are all brain injury survivors, participated in the video process, not only by staring in the short films but by creating the basic script and identifying key points they wanted to address on camera. These videos are available to share from the Krempels Center Youtube page found here: (1) More than my Brain Injury 2023 - YouTube
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Krempels Center celebrates Brain Injury Awareness Month
