Dr. Kara Gagnon, CEO and president of Braveminds: Peace of Mind Brain Injury Services. Contributed photo.
Dr. Kara Gagnon, CEO and president of Braveminds: Peace of Mind Brain Injury Services, will present “Military Caregivers Coping with Their Loved Ones Deployment: Challenges and Resources,” on Wednesday, Nov. 9, from 3-5 p.m. in the Center for Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Quinnipiac University, 370 Bassett Road. This program is free and open to the public.
Braveminds is a national nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of spouses, children and loved ones of U.S. military personnel veterans and civilians who have sustained a traumatic brain injury or suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Gagnon, an assistant clinical professor of ophthalmology at the Yale School of Medicine, will describe how Braveminds provides programs and resources and is building a support community aimed at identifying and meeting the needs of the caregivers.
“Traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder have symptoms often misunderstood by the broader society,” Gagnon said. “The wounded and their caregivers and family members shoulder profound challenges each day that expand across home, work and social settings. Caregivers often make huge sacrifices without support and resources. Our organization recognizes the wounded and their caregivers and family as an interconnected unit with currently under-served needs.”
According to Braveminds, 250,000 servicemen and women have suffered concussions in the past decade. Tens of thousands have sustained lasting brain injuries. Three million Americans, which is approximately 2 percent of the U.S. population, currently live with disabilities resulting from traumatic brain injuries.
Hidden Heroes: America’s Military Caregivers reports that 53 percent of post-911 caregivers have no caregiving network, no individual or group that regularly provides help with caregiving in support of them. Fifty-eight percent of the military caregivers reported delaying or skipping their own doctor or dentist appointments as a result of becoming a caregiver.
This event is sponsored by the Joining Forces initiative in the Quinnipiac University School of Nursing, which was launched in 2013 as part of a national initiative to educate faculty and health professionals about the needs and issues faced by our veterans, and Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Hospital.
For more information, call 203-582-8652.