Developing Brain Injury Resource Facilitation for Acquired Brain Injury: Indications and Unmet Needs

Abstract

Owing to major progress in the survivorship following acquired brain injury (ABI), there exists a pressing need for the development of systems of care and rehabilitation tailored to ABI. One of the supportive systems is brain injury resource facilitation (brain injury RF), which focuses on having therapeutic, social, and financial resources readily available and easily accessible for persons with ABI. Brain injury RF comprises identification of a person’s strengths and challenges, goal setting, resource identification, coordination, access, utilization, monitoring, evaluation, and advocacy. Brain injury RF is critically important in bridging community services for persons with ABI and eliminating disjointed approaches of care that fail to address the full range of the individual’s needs and long-term success. Over recent years, multiple stakeholders in the field of ABI have worked to develop and implement strategies for timely brain injury RF. This white paper aims to provide an overview of the current status of brain injury RF and an analysis on the challenges and opportunities in brain injury RF for ABI. Practical policy recommendations for its implementation are proposed to the potential funders of brain injury RF programs at the national, state, and community levels. We call for attention to this pressing need in society and advocate for a novel, pragmatic, and culturally informed approach in the development of brain injury RF in communities where people with ABI reside.