This post forms part of a series of posts which seek to identify the potential benefits of developing a social network targeted toward the needs of ABI victims. The other posts in this series may be located via the urls to be added to the bottom of each page.
Medical Research
The New York Times article cited in the prior post contains the following comment:
Sebastian Seung speaks in sweeping terms of how identity, personality, memory — all the things that define a human being — grow out of the way brain cells and regions are connected to each other.
Everything that we identify as human, that serves to make us human, derives from the function of the brain. Any impairment of brain function will have significant impact. And this impact will be experienced not only by the victim, but by all members of society.
The US Department of Health and Human Services estimated that 2% of the US population live with disability as a result of brain injury from traumatic causes alone (Stroke is recognized as a significant cause of brain inury and cognitive impairment. Hospitalizations due to stroke were not enumerated in the study.). Traumatic Brain Injury in the United States: A report to Congress states that 1.7 million people annually in the US sustain Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) resulting in 275,000 hospitalizations and 52,000 deaths.
A Canadian study which examined the direct costs associated with TBI in Ontario found that:
Annual medical costs of patients hospitalized with a brain injury in Ontario in the first follow-up year were approximately $120.7 million for TBI and $368.7 million for nTBI.
This study did not seek to estimate the second and third years costs of subsequent treatment for acute care patients. Nor did it seek to estimate the costs for ABI patients not admitted to acute care.
These costs are likely to increase as the population ages.
A Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) study found that:
neurological diseases, disorders and injuries have a significant economic impact on Canada, costing 8.8 billion dollars in 2000–2001, with indirect costs (e.g. lost productivity due to long-term disability or premature death) accounting for an estimated $6.5 billion compared with $2.3 billion in direct health care costs (e.g., hospital care, physician care, and drugs).
The Daffodil Network offers a potential research framework within which various assistive technologies may be deployed and tested with the goal of a better quality of life for ABI victims, improved in-home care, quicker rehabilitation, and decreased social costs.
—————————————
This post is part of a series which seeks to describe the functions of the Daffodil Network. Other posts in this series are the following:
Daffodil Network – Introduction
Daffodil Network – Research Need
Daffodil Network – The Internet of Things
Daffodil Network – Shared Experience
Daffodil Network – Support Group Meeting