Over 50 people acquire a brain injury every day in Ireland, which can have a major impact on them and their families for years to come, Acquired Brain Injury Ireland (ABII) has said.

The organisation, which is Ireland’s leading provider of clinically-led community rehabilitation for individuals with brain injuries aged between 18 and 65, is celebrating its 21^st birthday.

ABII was set up in 2000 with the aim of providing life-changing and specialised neuro-rehabilitation for people whose lives had been impacted by a brain injury. Its establishment was driven by co-founder and CEO, Barbara O’Connell, whose brother, Peter Bradley, suffered two brain injuries as a result of two serious road traffic accidents before the age of 42.

No longer able to live independently, and without access to any appropriate rehabilitation services, Mr Bradley was transferred from acute care to a nursing home.

The issue of inappropriate referrals to nursing homes was highlighted recently by the Ombudsman’s report, Wasted Lives.

“Too often, people who acquire brain injuries are young and left in inappropriate settings such as nursing homes, acute hospitals or at home where families are unable to cope.

“The findings of the Ombudsman’s report have been at the core of our purpose from the very beginning - to prevent individuals with brain injury going into the nursing home system, to take those misplaced there out, and to give them the specialist response they need to rebuild their lives. We still have a long way to go,” Ms O’Connell said.

ABII started out with a single assisted-living service that provided a home-from-home for three people with acquired brain injuries. It now helps 1,100 people every year, via 16 rehabilitation residences, as well as a range of other supports, such as in-home community rehabilitation programmes.

During the pandemic, ABII also extended its services and its reach through the use of online and digital technologies

However, Ms O’Connell warned that brain injury continues to be a “hidden phenomenon in our society”.

“Nobody ever thinks it will happen to them, but it happens to 52 people in this country every day, often leaving them with a chronic and ongoing condition that can affect their lives and their families for months and years after the initial injury,” she noted.

ABII said that the Wasted Lives report has strengthened the case it has long championed – that State investment in specialised neuro-rehabilitation is urgently required.

“This will be crucial to end the systemic and inappropriate confinement of young brain injury survivors in nursing homes, where they are denied the right to rehabilitation and the opportunity to rebuild their lives,” the organisation added.

For more information on ABII, click here.