Dave's Down low Downunder Adventure
The YPINH Alliance is proud to be partnering with Dave Lewis, who is cycling around Australia to raise awareness of the issue of young people in nursing homes and the desperate need for rehabilitation programs in Australia.
A National Rehabilitation Strategy
Over 22,000 Australians were hospitalized with an Acquired Brain Injury in 2004-2005. Most - over two in every five - were caused by a fall, nearly one in three was due to a motor vehicle accident and one in six was caused by an assault. (source: www.bia.net.au)
Many of these young people end up in nursing homes because the rehabilitation and community support they need to recover isn’t available. But nursing homes don’t provide rehabilitation. And they aren’t resourced to support the complex needs these young people have.
Without critically needed rehabilitation, these young people cannot recover and are condemned to a life of dependence.
The Young People In Nursing Homes Alliance is calling for:
- development of a national rehabilitation strategy to help
- young people with ABI recover their capacity and independence
- those with neurological diseases like MS who need ongoing rehabilitation to maintain health and quality of life
- proactive partnership and collaboration between state health and disability services to ensure the help these young people require is delivered when they need it.
About Dave Lewis
In 2003, 22-yr old Dave sustained an acquired brain injury (ABI) from a motorcycle accident on his way to work. In a coma for 42 days, Dave’s parents were told he might not survive, but that if he did, a nursing home would be the only option for him. Fortunately Dave did survive and was able to afford the rehabilitation he needed through a small compensation payment he received as the victim of a road accident.
Dave was lucky. Without his modest compensation payment, he – like too many young people with ABI - would have had to rely on the limited resources of his state’s health system to assist with his recovery. And he wouldn’t have gone far.
Access to rehabilitation shouldn’t be a matter of luck. But without a national rehab strategy, getting the rehab you need, when you need it, is just that…luck.
Dave knows that rehab has meant his recovery. He wants every young Australian needing rehabilitation to have the same chance to recover he has had.
Dave begins his epic cycling journey in Tasmania where he will complete a 3 week ride in February 2012.
Dave will be calling for donations through YPINH to raise money for young people requiring rehabilitation in each state Dave travels through.
Donations
All donations over $2 are tax deductible and will go towards helping young Australians like Dave get the rehab they need: Donate today
Acquired Brain Injury
Over 22,000 Australians were hospitalized as a result of an Acquired Brain Injury in 2004-2005. Most of those Traumatic Brain Injuries - over two in every five - were caused by a fall, nearly one in three was due to a motor vehicle accident and one in six was caused by an assault. (www.bia.net.au)
Every year, over a thousand young Australians sustain an acquired brain injury (ABI). Over 70% are under 30 years of age and most of these injuries are the result of motor vehicle accidents. More than half receive no compensation.
As well as motor vehicle accidents, other causes of ABI include stroke, hypoxia, near drownings, infections and traumas such as accidents in the home such as the one Molly Meldrum recently sustained, sports-related injuries and assault.
ABIs have wide-ranging effects on cognitive, physical, intellectual and emotional function.
Rehabilitation in Australia
" ... The lifetime cost of new cases of brain and spinal cord injury occurring in 2008 alone is $10.5 billion in Australia ... "
www.biat.org.au
WorkCover and no fault motor vehicle schemes are the only ways in which long term funding to support recovery from an acquired brain injury can be accessed in Australia.
Only 3 states in Australia have no fault motor vehicle schemes. Two - Tasmania and NSW – require the injury to happen within their state borders in cars registered in their respective states.
Victoria’s Transport Accident Commission (TAC) is the only Australian scheme to cover people for injuries received outside its state borders in a Victorian registered car.
Lump sum compensation payments have a limited life and cannot provide the lifetime support most young people with catastrophic brain injuries require.
Those with 'non compensable' injuries are thus unable to access the slow stream rehabilitation and other supports needed to give them the best chance of recovering from their injuries.
BraIn injury effects everyone differently and although every outcome will be different, rehabilitation delivered in a timey manner is critical in achieving the best possible recovery.
To find out more about brain injury and rehabilitation, contact your state brain injury association at:
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