In this weeks blog Lisa Turan, CEO of The Child Brain Injury Trust shares some of the latest work the charity has done in the field of concussion and brain injury. The Trust is the leading voluntary sector organisation providing emotional and practical support, information and learning opportunities for families and professionals affected by childhood acquired brain injury across the UK. Working across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland with a dedicated team of professional staff who support children and young people from tiny babies right into adulthood. Follow Lisa on twitter @cbitlisa and the Trust by clicking on the social media links below.
Back to normal, it’s September and the schools have started back right across the UK. Armed with shiny new shoes and sharpened pencils kids are returning to routine, and for parents that’s back to packed lunches and frantic mornings (unless you are of the super organised parent variety).
This also means getting back to sports and after school activities, and while it is great for kids to be busy, healthy and active there is also unfortunately an increase in hospital admissions due to head injury. It’s worthwhile noting at this point that concussion is also a head injury.
“Although the majority of head injuries in children are minor, a recent UK study estimates that 5% will have intracranial complications and associated morbidity and mortality with long term disability and intellectual, personality and behavioural problems”. [1] This means that for the most part children will have no long-term problems, but some will, and that is where the support of organisation like the Child Brain Injury Trust is vital. These children are facing a future with the additional challenge of acquired brain injury or ABI. You can read our latest family stories, click on the link Archie’s Story
The same study also revealed that across the UK September admissions were higher than at any other time of year. Of the children and young people included in the study there is also an age and gender divide.
The study focussed on children and young people aged 0 – 15 years old, and those under the age of 5 accounted for 55% of admissions due to head injury, the primary cause of injury is unsurprisingly falls within this group. This highlights the need for communication of home safety information, so parents of younger children know how to prevent accidents.
As you can imagine there is a relationship between age of infant and cause of injury, those children under 1 still being carried by a care-giver were more likely to sustain a head injury through being dropped from a carers arms. Older infants with an average of 18 months were more likely to fall down the stairs or from furniture, which at the height of the exploring and adventurous stage is to be expected. [2]
Of the older children sports and recreation activities caused almost 14% of injuries, and this is where the gender divide also arises with males being over represented. This is down to the types of activities.
Over the last few years more and more awareness of concussion and head injury is growing, and as the leading voluntary sector organisation providing emotional and practical support to families following childhood acquired brain injury we are at the forefront of that work.
In Northern Ireland there was the high profile “recognise and remove campaign “ endorsed by the Department of Education and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. You can read more about that campaign here Recognise and Remove
In Scotland we have been more recently involved with the “After Concussion Return to Normality” or ACORN as it is more commonly known. This advice leaflet for parents of children over 5 was developed by the Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS Trust. You can find it available for download and use here After Concussion Return to Normality
We have developed a fantastic range of training and information resources for those with an interest in learning more about acquired brain injury. Many of our courses are CPD approved and there are plenty of online options too. Of course our main focus is to support the families who are referred to us, we have a team of dedicated and professional Acquired Brain Injury Coordinators who work across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. They are on-hand for the families right from hospital to home and eventually the return to education. To find out about our family support service visit the “How We Help” section of our website. If you come across a family who you feel would benefit from our support you can refer through our website, just click on the link and choose the region that best suits.
References
[1] Trefan L, Houston R, Pearson G, et al
Epidemiology of children with head injury: a national overview Archives of Disease in Childhood 2016;101:527-532
[2] Burrows P, Trefan L, Houston R, et alHead injury from falls in children younger than 6 years of age. Archives of Disease in Childhood 2015;100:1032-1037
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Child Brain Injury Trust Unit 1, The Great Barn Baynards Green Farm Nr. Bicester OX27 7SG
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