Although I started Where Did My Brain Go? to write about traumatic brain injuries, I rarely do, because most of the news is depressing. Living with a traumatic brain injury is a daily struggle. Just something I have to live with. It cannot be “cured”, and will never improve.
Ready for more bad news? A recently–published study by Toronto’s Centre for Research on Inner City Health, shows that traumatic brain injuries cause homelessness.
In 2004 and 2005, they interviewed 904 people at homeless shelters, and meal programs, and found that 53% had traumatic brain injuries. Worse, is that 70% of those injuries occurred, before the person became homeless.
Stephen Hwang, co–author of The effect of traumatic brain injury on the health of homeless people cautiously said:
“I think that this article doesn’t make the link definitively, but it is hypothesis generating. It raises a possibility which has not been discussed by researchers before.”
In a recent interview, co–author Angela Conatonio, said traumatic brain injuries, are the leading cause of death, among people under 45 in Canada, and added:
“Cognitive rehab [may be beneficial to those who have suffered traumatic brain injuries] for example, or they might benefit from some assisted technology, such as help with their memory”
The Worst Part
If it took Dr. Conatonio three years to figure out that homeless people, with a TBI “might benefit” from “help with their memory” — how long it will take for Canada to actually help these people?
Photo
Photo of woman, is by Spirited Angel from her Toronto Life collection.
I just discovered a helpful Web site for Veterans with 
