In their own words: Empowering people to tell their story after traumatic brain injury - REGISTER

Synopsis:

This webinar will be a fun and lively presentation from a group of people who will share their experiences of having a traumatic brain injury and their unique perspectives on their rehabilitation journeys. The speakers have all been supported to develop their stories as part of their speech pathology programmes and find this to be a very rewarding journey both for their own recovery but also through the valuable contribution they make to others.

Speech pathologist, Dr Melanie Moses will also share her insights into the value of storytelling as a therapy tool. 

Key Learnings:

• 1.     Develop unique insights into lived experience of people with traumatic brain injury and ways to best to engage them in their rehabilitation journey.
• 2.     Understand ways in which supporting clients to tell their story may assist them to develop a range of cognitive-communication and psychosocial skills. 

Date changed to 26th May at 1pm via Zoom

ID: 853 5750 1546

Password: 980189

As I put together these Words from the President, my aim is to write this column without focusing (too much) on the dreaded ‘C’ word. In doing so, I hope that you will indulge me as I share my (slightly meandering) thoughts with you.

It gives me considerable pleasure to start this entry with some good news. It looks like the wish expressed in the closing paragraph of my last ‘Word from the President’ was granted: With the help of a sustained and combined effort to promote the importance of COVID-19 vaccination and expanded infrastructure at multiple levels (federal, State, communities), the proportion of people fully vaccinated is reaching levels (80-90%) that are the envy of many countries around the world (although with considerable variability between urban and regional/remote areas). As a result, people living in Australia are slowly enjoying renewed freedom. Freedom to travel, freedom to engage in physical, social and sporting activities, and, most importantly, freedom to meet with loved ones, friends and families face to face. For many, it will also be the first opportunity to travel overseas and come back without having to quarantine in over 600 days.

Once again, the importance of direct social and physical contacts is not to be underestimated. As reported by many around the world, social interactions have wide ranging benefits that include mental as well as physical health, improved cognition, improved immune system and lower stress levels. We are, and will remain, social animals in need of social interactions.

Pleasingly, the importance and contributions of social interactions to our general wellbeing is also recognised by clinicians and researchers working in the field of brain impairment. Indeed, reviewing the articles published in the past 12 months in Brain Impairment, the journal of ASSBI, no fewer than 25% of accepted submissions covered a topic related to some of aspects of social functioning, such as caregiver support (Wallace et al., doi:10.1017/BrImp.2021.5) compassion and unmet needs (Hennessy & Sullivan), moral cognition (Lloyd et al., doi:10.1017/BrImp.2021.7), reflection on professional practice (Whiffin & Ellis-Hill, doi:10.1017/BrImp.2021.14), or working memory and emotions (Byom et al., doi:10.1017/BrImp.2021.20), in clinical populations as varied as traumatic brain injury, stroke, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis. If you haven’t done so already, I invite you to read these papers which demonstrate the importance of this topic in clinical practice. More broadly, these articles highlight the breadth and quality of studies published in Brain Impairment, which has enjoyed a marked increase in its impact factor (from 0.96 in 2018 to 1.73 in 2020), an increase that is almost twice as large as similar journals and reflecting its quality and increasing standing in the field.

Finally, as we are fast approaching the end of the year and the festive season, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all of you ASSBI members for your continuing support of the society and to the ASSBI committee at large for your ongoing contributions and for helping steer this ship during what has been an interesting time (understatement of the year).

Wishing you all a prosperous and healthy 2022 and looking forward to seeing you all in person in May at the 45^th annual ASSBI conference in Perth. 

Olivier Piguet, President

It is with great pleasure that I write my first Words from the President for the ASSBI newsletter. Before telling you about myself and what makes me tick, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Robyn Tate for her outstanding presidency during the past two years, steering ASSBI through turbulent waters in the past 18 months deftly and with great poise. One recognises a leader not by what they say but by how they react to the uncertainty and the unexpected; And Robyn has been, undoubtedly, a great ASSBI president and I hope to be able to follow her steps. My aim is to continue increasing ASSBI’s visibility in the Australasian landscape as a strong voice for brain injury, regardless of aetiology, and as a platform to promote excellence in applied research and interventions in the field.

At a time when many professional organisations are feeling the continuing impact of the pandemic, with many conferences and meetings cancelled, ASSBI has fared comparatively well. Yes, the 2020 Perth Annual meeting, which is one of the major sources of income for the society, had to be cancelled; however, our online training program and workshops have been very successful by all accounts and minimizing the financial impact of this cancellation on the society. Undoubtedly, this is due in great part to the tireless work of our Executive Officer, Margaret Eagers, together with the Continuing Education Committee, led by Barbra Zupan, which despite these difficulties managed to put together an outstanding program. This year, I am pleased to say that the conference will happen again. Indeed, ASSBI joins forces with the International Neuropsychological Society and the APS College of Clinical Neuropsychologists for what will be a momentous 2021 Annual meeting in Melbourne, with the opportunity to meet face-to-face with your fellow colleagues and friends, as well as remotely.

So, who is our new President? I am currently appointed Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Sydney, and director of FRONTIER, the frontotemporal dementia clinical research group based at the Brain & Mind Centre where I lead a research group of ~25 staff/clinicians/postdocs/students investigating early manifestations and progression of younger-onset dementia syndromes. As my name suggests, I am not from around here originally. Native of the land of Jean Piaget and Carl Gustav Jung and, for those following more recent history, Roger Federer. I completed my undergraduate studies in psychology at the University of Geneva. At a time where formal clinical training in neuropsychology was almost non-existent in Europe, I was accepted in the Masters program in Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Melbourne and was lucky to train under the guidance of Michael Saling, Vicki Anderson, Steve Bowden and, on clinical placements, Anne Unkenstein. Two years of training has turned into a 30-year love story for this country and for neuropsychology, as well as cognitive and clinical neurosciences. In the past 15 years, my focus has been on frontotemporal dementia in its many forms (behavioural variant, language variants, motor presentations). Frontotemporal dementia is a complex disease caused by multiple brain pathologies leading to, sometimes, confusing clinical presentations. Generally emerging in people in their late 50s, it is not uncommonly confused with psychiatric conditions with a long delay to diagnosis and management (Indeed, who wants to think about dementia at that age?). Currently, the major challenges in the field are to improve early and accurate diagnosis and understand disease progression so we can inform patients and families better. My work is varied: In an attempt to reach these goals, I use convergent methodologies, which include behavioural, clinical, cognitive, neuroimaging, physiological, genetics and neuropathological investigations. Obviously, the ultimate aim will be to develop disease modifying treatments and a cure, although the road ahead is still long. In the meantime, we have also been focusing on developing interventions and management programs to address some of the disabling features of these diseases, as well as providing support to carers, families, and education to various scientific organisations and bodies.

I am very excited to start my tenure as ASSBI President. All in all, the society remains very healthy, despite the turbulent recent period. In addition, with difficult times come opportunities: opportunities to reflect on the identity of the society and chances to explore novel options to develop our activities and communicate with our membership and sister societies. I truly believe that the future is bright for ASSBI and I am looking forward to being part of this journey.

Looking forward to seeing you all in Melbourne next month 

Olivier Piguet, President

Our journal Brain Impairment has many new ‘First View’ articles available and our social media editors have been sharing this new high-quality content via our Twitter account @BrainImpairment. They are also busily preparing an #HeadsTogether2021 conference workshop on research dissemination strategy where we will provide an overview of what is possible, how to build engagement, and outline some resources to get you started thinking about how you go about it! Also, don’t forget to check out the new look ASSBI journal webpages here https://assbi.com.au/Journal-BIM and follow the journal @BrainImpairment on Twitter to stay up-to-date.

Many congratulations to Professor  Skye McDonald, who became a proud grandma to a beautiful granddaughter at the end of 2020

Congratulations go to Dr Dana Wong who, at the ASSBI AGM on 6^th May, became President Elect of ASSBI. She takes up this position for 2 years which is followed by 2 years as President and then a further 2 years as Past President.

A serious spinal cord injury in the 90s left Dean bound to his bed. His functions declining over the years, the 51-year-old spent his days eating, sleeping, having a bed bath, changing his urinary bag and watching television. Better Rehab Occupational Therapists Emily and Danielle have been working diligently alongside Dean’s support coordinators and equipment suppliers from AusTech medical to improve his quality of life. They conducted research to explore his options for a power wheelchair (PWC), eventually coordinating a date to trial a chair from Permobil. “The trial took over 3 hours to script the chair to Dean’s anthropometrics, get him on the power wheelchair, check the chair fit within his home, and explore switch options to ensure he could drive the chair,” Emily said.

After an application to the NDIS, funding approval and training, Dean was given his Permobil Power Wheelchair, which he could independently control using ergonomic switches. With his right arm positioned at his chest, he can navigate the PWC forwards and backwards, while head switches facilitate side-to-side movement. A final switch, behind his elbow, allows him to adjust modes, including wheelchair speed and position.

In June, for the first time in 20 years, Dean was able to get out of bed.

“I felt independent and like I was 17 again – driving a car for the first time,” he said. “I felt freedom - like I could go anywhere at any time.”

Emily said Dean has redefined possible and the progress he has made is remarkable.

“When we first met Dean, he was bedbound, only leaving his bed in the ambulance plinth to go to the hospital,” she said. “Dean’s wheelchair is brand new - he has now been able to use it on three occasions in which he was able to spend time in the sun, visit neighbours down his street, see a rainbow, see his backyard for the first time in twenty years and have a tea party on his back patio.” Click here to meet Dean

Better Rehab is an NDIS- registered allied health provider with branches across Australia. For more information on the services they provide, visit www.betterrehab.com.au.

Better Rehab

1300 0 REHAB

www.betterrehab.com.au

As I write my President’s report for the final issue of ASSBI’s Newsletter for the year, I am sure that you will agree with me that we look forward to putting 2020 behind us. Who would have thought that, just 12 months ago, we would experience the worst wildfires in Australia's history burning more than 12.6 million hectares, which would be eclipsed by the COVID-19 pandemic with, at current count, 60.7 million confirmed cases worldwide and 1.4 million deaths.  Australia and New Zealand have continued to be model countries in dealing with the pandemic and, at year’s end, we welcome the reopening of our inter-state and territory borders, and look forward to soon being able to travel within the “Australia-New Zealand bubble”.  Particular mention is made of our Melburnian colleagues, who have recently emerged victorious from a crippling second wave of the virus.  Tough lockdown measures were enforced for more than 110 days, with good community adherence, and a supportive and highly visible Premier who gave lengthy and candid press conferences for 120 consecutive days. We hope that the sky-rocketing rates of infections and deaths in other countries will be contained soon, particularly as the northern hemisphere enters its winter season.

                    Like many other businesses, the pandemic has had adverse consequences upon ASSBI’s financial position.  The annual conference, scheduled for Perth in May, had to be cancelled.  This was a severe financial blow to the Society, given that the conference is our main source of revenue.  But it could have been a lot worse.  Thanks to our remarkable Executive Officer, Margaret Eagers, our Continuing Education Officer, Barbara Zupan, and ASSBI Resources Manager, Skye McDonald, an excellent series of diverse and well-attended webinars was scheduled throughout the remainder of the year.  This was marketed as ASSBI Conference Bite Size, thus allowing ASSBI to continue offering its (always highly acclaimed) professional development programme.  Particular thanks are also due to the webinar speakers, not only for the high standard of their presentations, but also for foregoing payment for the webinars.

                    The ASSBI Committee has been extra busy this year planning for a review of the Society. An important first step in the process was a survey of the membership (see the September 2020 Newsletter for a summary of the survey results).  We have had various working parties to advance this process, and I thank Jacinta Douglas, Olivier Piguet and Dana Wong for working with me to develop the survey items; and also Olivier, Jacinta, Dana, Nicci Grace and Clare Ramsden for their subsequent input into synthesising the results into a detailed report.  This report has been discussed at length by the entire Committee. The next step has been the formation of another Working Party, with Jacinta, Olivier, Jennie Ponsford, Tamara Ownsworth, Janet Wagland, Margaret Eagers and myself, which will take the report and Committee discussions and develop goals for a review for consideration by the Committee.  These activities will carry over into next year and I will keep you updated via the Newsletter.

                    Other activities have included instating a new social media team specifically formed to promote our journal, Brain Impairment (see this Newsletter for details), and student activity, coordinated by Jonathan Reyes.  ASSBI’s encouragement and support of students and early career clinicians and researchers were identified in our membership survey as being worthwhile areas to expand, as is ASSBI’s role in greater inclusion of people with lived experience with brain impairment.  So you can expect to see further development of ASSBI’s role in these areas.

                    As I mentioned in the September Newsletter, one of the most encouraging outcomes of the review was the positive endorsement of ASSBI being a welcoming community that is friendly, approachable, generous, inclusive, supportive, and collegiate; a society where members feel a sense of belonging.  This sets ASSBI aside from many other professional organisations and makes us especially proud of our Society.  I thank both the Committee and the wider membership who make ASSBI what it is.  On that note, I take this opportunity to send you season’s greetings and let us all welcome in 2021 in a big way.

My very best wishes to you all,

Robyn Tate

President