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For Family and Friends
A brain injury affects not only the injured person but the whole family — from financial challenges and social upheaval to isolation and job loss.
In this section for caregivers, family, and friends, you will find basic information about caring for a loved one with TBI; legal and financial guidance; workplace rights for caregivers; support group information; and advice about caregiver burnout among other topics.
As family and friends, you may be particularly interested in:
Traumatic Brain Injury Basics
About Traumatic Brain Injury
Brain injury affects the roots of who we are — our ability to think, communicate, and connect with other people. Here's a good place to start learning.
Letter to My Wife's Family
Caregiving & Brain Injury
A long-time caregiver writes an honest plea for help and support to his wife's siblings.
Lost & Found: What Brain Injury Survivors Want You to Know
Living with Traumatic Brain Injury
Hear what people with TBI are really thinking and want their friends, family, and others to know.
Topics
About Traumatic Brain Injury
Any injury to the brain from an external force is a TBI. Penetrating head injuries occur when an object, like shrapnel, enters the brain and causes damage in a specific area. Closed head injuries occur when there's a blow to the head, which can happen during a fall, car accident, sporting event, or any number of different ways.
Brain Basics
The brain is incredibly complex — take an interactive journey to see how the brain works and what impact an injury can have.
Aging After Brain Injury: BrainLine Talks with Dr. Steven Flanagan
What happens to people with TBI as they age?
Caregiving and Traumatic Brain Injury
When a loved one sustains a traumatic brain injury, becoming a caregiver can happen suddenly, without warning. The person with the injury may look the same but think and behave differently. And when one member of a family changes, the entire family changes. Providing and coordinating care can be overwhelming. It helps to know there are resources you can turn to.
A Brain Injury Support Group Could Be One of the Best Things That Ever Happens to You
"I never thought I was a 'support group person' ... I wanted to take action, not talk about my problems."
Finding the Right Doctor for People with TBI
Caregivers need to educate themselves about their loved one's TBI and not be afraid to get a second opinion.
Family Concerns
While no family is ever prepared for the life changes a brain injury brings, almost everyone wants to know how they can help during the recovery process, and they want to learn about ways they can prepare for the financial, psychological and social consequences that a TBI can cause.
Helping Children Cope with Head Injury in the Family
Children who have a close relative, particularly a parent, with a brain injury face many challenges. Learn how children can be affected and how to help them and the adults caring for them.
Advice for Families with a Loved One with Severe Brain Injury
Keeping a journal, taking videos, and looking back to mark progress can help families with a loved one with a severe TBI. But most importantly, families need to seek help.
Sports Injuries
Sports-related brain injuries can happen in countless ways. A football player can sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a head-to-head collision. A cheerleader can fall on her head during a “basket toss.” A skier can smash into a tree. A skateboarder can lose control and fall against a curb. Coaches, parents, and athletes need to learn about brain injury to prevent injury and make the best decisions if an injury does occur.
How Can Parents Help Educate Their Children’s Coaches About Concussion?
Don’t worry about seeming like an overprotective mom or dad … share your knowledge and keep your child safe on and off the field.
Head Games, the Film
A powerful documentary that explores the question, “How much of you are you willing to lose for a game?”
And for brain injury rehabilitation resources in your area, click on “Resource Directory” on the top grey bar. Click on your state and go directly to a list of nearby TBI resources — rehab centers, outpatient services, and more. Or you can simply enter your zip code into the search box to find out what is available near you.
We hope you'll visit BrainLine often. We'll be adding new information, resources, voices, and stories on a regular basis. Tell us what you think here.
Creativity in Caregiving
Loving wife and teacher Abby Maslin uses her creativity and teaching skills to help her husband recover from a severe TBI.
Caregiving for Someone Whose Nose Doesn't Always Know
Traumatic brain injury makes quirky seem quirkier, especially when a person is in the initial months of recovery. Rosemary learned that Hugh's loss of his sense of smell came with both dangers and quirkiness.
Starting or Nourishing Romantic Relationships After TBI
Every relationship has its ups and downs, but when a partner or spouse sustains a brain injury, other problems can arise, too.
Challenges with Acts of Daily Living After a Brain Injury
Problems with acts of daily living like dressing or washing can vary greatly and sometimes professional help is necessary.
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BrainLine.org is a WETA website funded by the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center through a contract with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation. Government funding support is not an endorsement of WETA or any of its products, including this website.
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