For more information contact:
Joan Moore 805.650.5993 xt 204 or David Wilk 805.649.5206
March is National Brain Injury Awareness Month
Ventura County Brain Injury Conference Targets Survivors, Families and Medical Professionals
Oxnard, CA -- The Brain Injury Center is staging the county’s first educational event devoted to brain injury, its medical implications, the profound impact on survivors and their families and strategies for building a new life. The day-long Ventura County Brain Injury Conference will take place March 21 at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard.
Presenters will include physicians who deal with brain injury, rehabilitation specialists and personnel from the Brain Injury Center, the county’s single non-profit organization devoted to assisting people with brain injury and their families. One special session will be conducted from 10 a.m. until noon for professional providers.
A second special session, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., will target brain injury survivors, their families and friends. There is no charge for either session, but pre-registration is requested by calling the Brain Injury Center 805/650-5993 x 204 or by emailing joan@braininjurycenter.org. For more information visit the organization’s website at www.BrainInjuryCenter.org.
“This event is vital to our efforts to focus attention on brain injury,” said David Wilk, president of the Brain Injury Center. “The conference will help the public and professionals understand the impact of a brain injury and how we can work together to help survivors and their families.” Based on the national average, an estimated 16,000 people in Ventura County have a brain injury. The consequences of a brain injury are life long.
The morning session is designed to assist medical professionals, social workers, paramedics, safety officers and governmental employees with understanding brain injury and the latest developments in treatment. It will detail the cognitive, physical and behavioral changes that occur to a person with a brain injury and explore the challenges of various treatment methods.
The afternoon session is devoted to brain injury survivors and their families and will deal with the challenges of coping with this new life and ways to move forward. Very often victims of a brain injury have greatly reduced ability to work, drive, think coherently or manage their affairs. The impact on family members is considerable.
Event participants include Dr. Robert Tomaszewski and Dr. Erik Lande; Nancy Porcella, MACCC, principal of Brain Injury Specialists; Lucinda Garner, PT, St. John’s Medical Center; and Celeste Racicot, a cognitive re-habilitation counselor who conducts support groups for the Brain Injury Center. BIC director Joan Moore and David Wilk, BIC’s president, will also participate.
“There are huge gaps in the continuity and availability of services for people with brain injury and their families,” said Moore. “Life goes on after medical treatment and rehab are completed, but services are extremely limited. We want to give people support and dignity and the confidence that even though they have been dealt a huge setback, a full and enriching life is still possible for them.”
“The session for medical and other professionals is an extremely important part of the conference,” Moore added. “Very little training has been available to assist them in dealing with the specific issues of brain injury. We want to let people who will be working with brain injury survivors learn ways to make accommodations that will enhance the delivery of their services. We will be highlighting the variations and consequences of brain injury as well as the independent living model for helping survivors and families progress to a new life.
Conference sponsors include St. John’s Regional Medical Center, St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital and the Camarillo Health Care District.