Minister Norma Foley has launched a new five-year strategy for Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) Ireland during a visit to its resource centre in Castleisland.
The strategy, entitled Beyond Boundaries, outlines the organisation’s plan to expand access to its person-centred community neurorehabilitation services.
ABI Ireland’s says its goal is to ensure as many survivors as possible receive the support they need, in the right place and at the right time.
The strategy also introduces a new focus on developing neurorehabilitation services for survivors of brain injury under 18 and over 65.
It is estimated that 19,000 people in Ireland acquire a brain injury each year.
The ABI Ireland Resource Centre in Castleisland, Co. Kerry, provides group and cognitive rehabilitation.
Other services in the county include brain injury case management and access to clinical specialists in occupational therapy, social work and psychology.
Damien O’Carroll, a survivor of brain injury and member of the Castleisland Resource Centre, spoke at the launch about his recovery and rehabilitation journey.
He said, “When I had my brain injury, my life was turned upside down overnight. I recovered from the initial trauma, but after I was discharged from hospital, I had to adjust to a completely different way of life... ABI Ireland has been a lifeline for me and before long my second life began... My confidence has returned and I can now see a meaningful future for myself again.”
Minister Norma Foley, a Kerry Fianna Fáil TD, welcomed the strategy, stating the Programme for Government includes plans for the national rollout of HSE Community Neuro-rehabilitation Teams, expansion of regional inpatient rehabilitation beds, provision of community-based multidisciplinary rehabilitation services in every HSE Health Area, an increase in the number of neurology nurse specialists and consultant neurologists, and an overall improvement of the rehabilitation pathway from acute hospital care to home.
Dr Karen Foley, Chief Executive of ABI Ireland, said “There is still a long way to go to meet the needs of all survivors and families living with the lasting impacts of an ABI. Long-term community neurorehabilitation services in Ireland remain underfunded and under-resourced. Each week we meet people who have been discharged from hospital without the necessary information, support or signposting to services. We continue to see young survivors inappropriately placed in nursing homes simply because no alternative exists."
