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Adult Injuries

BC Brain Injury Association – Improving the lives of people living with brain injuries

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It is estimated that 50,000 Canadians suffer a traumatic brain injury each year – and the majority of these are young adults.

At Pacific Medical Law, we can assist people who have suffered as a result of a delayed diagnosis of a traumatic brain injury or a failure by a physician or other health care professional to diagnose an underlying medical condition such as an impending stroke.

Traumatic brain injury is the leading killer and disabler of Canadians under 40 years of age. Thanks to medical advances many people who would once have died from their injuries are able to survive; however, these individuals will require lifelong care because of the cognitive impairments and emotional effects of their injuries.

The BC Brain Injury Association (BCBIA) is a non-profit organization established in 1982 to serve the interests of people living with acquired brain injuries. Founded on the belief that every person with an acquired brain injury has the right to be considered as a full participating and impactful member of society, BCBIA’s mission is to be a leader in improving the lives of people who live with acquired brain injury in BC. Brainstreams.ca, the organization’s official website, provides continual access to information and support resources for the thousands of individuals in BC and beyond who experience brain injury each year. Visitors can also find news on medical breakthroughs, inspirational stories from survivors of brain injury, and upcoming events in the community.

For those interested in supporting this important cause, the BCBIA hosts an annual Cocktail Gala to help improve the lives of people living with acquired brain injuries by raising funds and awareness. This year’s Gala will take place on Thursday, February 5, 2015, and will feature mental health advocate Margaret Trudeau and brain injury awareness advocate Ellie Ennis as guest speakers. Tickets and more information are available at brainstreams.ca.

The Business Case for Hiring People with Disabilities

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I believe every person living with a disability should have the opportunity to reach their full potential, and that finding meaningful employment is an important part of that goal. The unemployment rate amongst disabled people, however, remains staggeringly high. Giving people living with disabilities the opportunity to prove their potential will slowly erode misconceptions and replace them with a recognition of the talent and commitment disabled people have to offer to the workplace. This is precisely what Mark Wafer has done.

Mark is a successful business person and advocate for people living with disabilities. Born deaf, Mark quickly learned first hand the challenges of holding down a job when you have a disability – so he became an entrepreneur. Today Mark owns and operates seven Tim Horton’s franchises. He purchased his first Tim Horton’s franchise 20 years ago. Five years later he advertised an opening for a new dining room attendant and Clint, a young man with Downs Syndrome, walked in and applied for the job. At that moment, Mark made the decision to give Clint a chance, knowing that unfortunately most business owners would not. He hired Clint and engaged a local community organization to train him to give him the best chance to succeed. Not only did Clint meet the job expectations, he exceeded them, quickly becoming Mark’s best employee. Since then Mark has hired over 100 employees with disabilities – both cognitive and physical. To Mark, hiring people with disabilities simply makes good business sense.

Why is the unemployment rate for disabled people so high?

If it makes such good business sense to hire people with a disability, why does the unemployment rate for disabled people remain so high? As Mark explains, it is simply fear, rooted in misconceptions about the potential that lies within disabled people to make meaningful contributions in the workplace. Specifically, employers have a misconception that hiring disabled people will result in more time off, more training, safety concerns, and higher employee turnover. But in Mark’s experience, the opposite is true. Employee turnover is the best example of why hiring disabled people makes good business sense. While his competitors have annual turnover rates of up to 100%, Mark boasts an impressively low turnover rate of 38%. The average tenure of an employee who has a disability is seven years, as compared to the 1.3 year average tenure of his non-disabled employees.

In addition to the reliability and dedication his disabled employees display, there are further benefits to including people with a disability in the workplace. Mark states, “people tell me they come to my business because we hire real people who make up the fabric of our community”, explaining that 53% of us have someone close to us with a disability.

Mark knows there is a compelling business case for hiring people living with disabilities. Let’s share this important message to help break down misconceptions about the value people with disabilities have to offer in the workplace, and replace fear with hope.

*image via blog.aarp.org

12 Eye-Opening Statistics about having a Disability in Canada

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The United Nations’ International Day of Persons with Disabilities is celebrated annually on December 3. Last week George Stroumboulopoulos examined the barriers that persons with disabilities face in Canada every day. He identified 12 key facts and figures about having a disability in Canada. These 12 eye-opening statistics are:

  • 13.7 per cent of Canadians live with a disability
  • 1.4 million disabled adults need daily assistance
  • Disabilities aren’t always so obvious
  • There’s an education gap between persons with disabilities and persons who are able-bodied
  • There are significant wage gaps, too
  • More people with disabilities are underemployed
  • Many companies aren’t hiring people with disabilities
  • Bosses report being happy with disabled hires
  • Canadians recognize there’s a problem with inclusion
  • Nearly half of Canadians believe there is a hiring bias against disabled people
  • Many Canadians can’t read
  • Disabled students are eligible for special loans

For the full length of the article, videos and a list of sources, please click here

Nerve Regeneration may Restore Bladder Function in Those with Spinal Cord Injuries

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Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Cleveland Clinic have restored significant bladder function through nerve regeneration in rats with severe spinal cord injuries.

“While urinary control is complex and recovery took several months, it was clear that this primitive function … does possess the capacity to rewire itself…,” Dr. Silver, one of the lead researchers, said.

The study involved pairing a traditional nerve bridge graft with a new mix of scar degrading and growth factor treatments to grow new nerve cells from the thoracic level to the lower spinal cord region.

“We were especially surprised and excited to discover that once a permissive environment was created, a subset of neurons situated largely within the brainstem, which play important roles in bladder function, slowly re-grew lengthy axons far down the cord,” said Dr. Silver.

The researchers are planning to carry out studies of this method in larger animal models before moving to human clinical trials in the U.S.

Read more about this study here

Results from the study were published in the Journal of Neuroscience (2013; 33:10591-606).

New Poll Reveals Misconceptions about Stroke among Canadians

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A report released by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada suggests that Canadians have plenty of misconceptions about stroke, and what it takes to recover from one. The poll conducted by the HSFC found that half of all Canadians have a close family member or a friend who has had a stroke and that many of these people do not realize that it may take weeks or months to recover from one.

Dr. Sean Dukelow, a researcher at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary, was surprised that one in five Canadians thinks a stroke is always fatal, when in fact only 10 percent of people die from it. Most stroke victims live; however, the recovery may sometimes takes weeks, months or even years.

Similarly, less than two-thirds of Canadians know that most strokes can be prevented. Also, almost one in six believes once a person has recovered from a stroke there is nothing they can do to prevent another one. The fact is up to 80 per cent of premature heart disease and strokes can be prevented by managing risk factors.

The poll also reveals that more than one-third of Canadians believe that the recovery period of a stroke is limited to a few months. The truth is that recovery can last a life time in some cases. Dr. Dukelow points out that a stroke affects more than just the patient, but also their family and friends. “Without supportive family, some of the patients that I see end up in a nursing home or a long-term care setting because they don’t have a family who can support them through the process,” he says.

According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, stroke is the third leading cause of death in Canada. Every ten minutes a Canadian suffers a stroke, and as the population continues to age these numbers are bound to increase. The results of this poll suggest that Canadians need more education and increased awareness about stroke and its effects.

Read the Heart and Stroke Foundation 2013 Report here:

Read the news article here

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