Events

Brain Injury Awareness Week 2010; August 16-22

Tuesday, 08 December 2009 14:02

Falls are now the leading cause of traumatic brain injury (TBI) throughout the developed world, due to ageing populations. Even though fall-related injuries to the head are consistently the second most common after hip fracture, head trauma in older people is often discounted in health and aged care and appropriate neurological assessment and monitoring overlooked.  And though rates of falls-related injuries to the head are rising while those for hip fracture are falling, brain injury fails to feature in Australia’s falls prevention programs.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Falls are the leading cause of traumatic brain injury in Australia, accounting for 42% of hospitalisations in 2004-2005.

• Falls are also the leading cause of injury hospitalisations overall, accounting for 1 in every 3 - or nearly 126,800 – injury admissions in 2003-2004.

• Of all causes of traumatic brain injury, falls are the most fatal - 63% resulted in death in 2004-2005.

• 3,300 Australians aged 65 years and over were hospitalised in 2004-2005 with a traumatic brain injury from of a fall.

• Traumatic brain injuries the result of a fall in Australians aged 65 and over made up 1 in every 7 traumatic brain injury hospitalizations in 2004-2005, across all age groups and causes.

• Australians aged 65 years and over accounted for 62% of all traumatic brain injury deaths in hospital in 2004-2005 - 1 in every 6 the result of a fall.

• “Head injury” was the second most common falls-related injury (after those to the hip and thigh) in Australians aged 65 and over during 2005-2006, occurring in 17% of cases.

• Around 70,000 Australians aged 65 and over were admitted to hospital in 2005-2006 for a falls injury - an increase of 10% over 2003-2004 admission numbers.  While falls injuries to the hip and thigh in this age group have fallen, rates of head injury have risen – to almost 1 in every 5 admissions.

• 3,846 falls from ladders resulted in serious injury in 2004–2005. The number of ladder-related injuries involving people aged 60 years and over is increasing at a much higher rate than for any other age group - by 24.2% between 1999 and 2005, more than triple the rate of increase of those aged less than 60.

• Fall-related injuries are very costly. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare estimated the healthcare cost during 2003-2004 of falls in people aged 65 and over at $566 million.  A study commissioned by the Department of Health and Ageing predicts that by 2051 the total health costs attributable to fall-related injury in the elderly will increase “almost threefold” to $1.375 billion per annum – requiring an additional 886,000 hospital bed days and 3,320 extra residential aged care places

For more information about falls-related traumatic brain injury (TBI), read Brain Injury Australia's 2008-2009 policy paper prepared for the Australian Government's Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.

Download the policy paper   [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 338.32 KB]

Check our Events pages  for details of specific events during Brain Injury Awareness Week 2010.

Read BIA’s media release for Awareness Week 2010…

Read more: Brain Injury Awareness Week 2010; August 16-22

NDS Employment Forum 6-7 September 2010

Monday, 09 August 2010 15:05

NDS Employment Forum - Riding the Waves of Change

6-7 September 2010, Hilton on the Park, Melbourne

2010 begins a period of significant change for providers of employment services to people with disability. Disability Employment Services are operating with a new service model which places an increased emphasis on employment outcomes. Providers are required to respond to consumer demand while adjusting to new funding tools, a revised performance framework and complex new rules. The challenges of providing high quality outcomes for people with disability while maintaining a sustainable service have altered.
 
Australian Disability Enterprises are also facing the prospect of change. The Government is developing a new vision for Australian Disability Enterprises. Economic pressures and opportunities are directing providers to explore broader markets and establish cooperative business arrangements. Improving business performance while achieving better outcomes for supported employees will become both a priority and a balancing act.

This NDS 2-day conference will equip delegates with knowledge and strategies to ensure they can continue to focus on the employment of people with disability as they meet the challenges ahead.

Funding available to assist people with disability and/or carers to attend the conference

Read more: NDS Employment Forum 6-7 September 2010

Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing and Education Conference

Thursday, 12 August 2010 09:47

The Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government is hosting this year’s annual Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing and Education Conference at the National Convention Centre, Canberra from 31 August to 3 September 2010.

The conference is the premier annual road safety event in the region and attracts international speakers, road safety and public health practitioners, researchers and policymakers.

For the first time this year, we are also having a workshop on driver-related disabilities facilitated by a leading international expert in the field (Please see the attached workshop program.)

For more information about the program and to register, please go to the conference website at www.roadsafetyconference2010.com.au .
 

A Recap of the Eighth World Congress on Brain Injury

Sunday, 16 May 2010 19:54

The International Brain Injury Association’s Eighth World Congress on Brain Injury was held in Washington, DC, March 10-14, 2010.  With close to 1100 delegates from over 40 countries, the Congress was the most successful in IBIA’s history. Over 650 scientific abstracts were submitted to the meeting, also a new record.

Read more about the Congress.

Children and inflicted brain injury - video available

Tuesday, 23 March 2010 13:55

During Brain Injury Awareness Week 2009 Brain Injury Australia held a forum at the Childrens Hospital, Westmead on "Children and Inflicted Traumatic Brain Injury".  Video of some presentations from the forum are now available to download.

Read more: Children and inflicted brain injury - video available