A New Partnership Brings Additional Resources to those Living with Traumatic Brain Injury.
About every 13 seconds in the U.S., someone suffers traumatic brain injury (TBI)—a blow or penetrating injury to the head that’s severe enough to disrupt normal brain function.
Children with TBI are often treated at Children’s Specialized Hospital (CSH), the leading provider of inpatient and outpatient care for children and young adults facing special health care challenges. Until recently, however, CSH had no way to help these patients as they grappled with the lingering effects of TBI in adulthood.
To remedy that situation, CSH has begun a new partnership with the nonprofit Opportunity Project, founded by parents whose sons were dealing with TBI. The program offers a wide range of services to help adults with TBI reach their full potential.
The organization’s mission and services make it a natural fit for CSH. “Opportunity Project has a long, rich history of serving the critical needs of adults with brain injury,” says Warren E. Moore, FACHE, President and CEO, CSH, and Senior Vice President, Pediatric Services, RWJBarnabas Health. “We are thrilled to partner and learn from one another, ensuring a bright future for the communities we serve.”
Moving Forward
Mild TBI, the most common kind, affects the brain only temporarily. However, symptoms of moderate to severe TBI may be long-term, even lifelong. These symptoms can include diffculty thinking clearly, headaches, moodiness, sensitivity to light, physical impairment and sleep problems. Up to 90,000 people experience the onset of long-term disability from TBI each year.
The only program of its kind in New Jersey, Opportunity Project has served more than 600 individuals affected by TBI, along with their families, since its inception in 1993. The organization is housed in a 14,000-square-foot facility in Millburn that’s accessible to the center of town and to public transportation, and is open five days a week.
Here, members can meet to receive occupational therapy, to confer with social workers who can help them access community resources, or to practice skills in reading, writing, planning and more. Opportunity Project also trains members who wish to become part of its Speakers Bureau, enabling them to use their firsthand knowledge of living with a brain injury to deliver inspiring and educational presentations.
For more information about Opportunity Project, visit www.opportunityproject.org. For more information about Children’s Specialized Hospital, call 888.244.5373 or visit www.childrens-specialized.org.