As part of its preparation for 2016’s national Brain Injury Awareness Week, Brain Injury Australia has produced a Position Paper on young stroke, the Week’s theme. The Paper reviews the latest research into young stroke’s incidence, prevalence, and unmet need, examines risks factors and the potential for prevention and makes a series of recommendations for the overhaul of health and disability-funded services.

“Compared to older people, young strokes take longer to seek medical attention, are less likely to receive rehabilitation, and have more unmet needs in relation to psychosocial functioning and return to work. Though there is a lack of solid local trend evidence, rates of young stroke are increasing worldwide due to an increase in modifiable risk factors such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes.”

Brain Injury Australia has added young stroke to its other multi-year public educations campaigns: the leading cause of death and disability in children who have been abused, inflicted traumatic brain injury (sometimes called “shaken baby syndrome); concussion in sport; the leading cause of traumatic brain injury throughout the developed world, falls – due to ageing populations; and people with a brain injury in the criminal justice system (as many as 70 per cent of Australia’s adult prisoners have a brain injury); and women, family violence and traumatic brain injury.

Brain Injury Australia wants to hear from young strokes nationwide about the next steps they want to take towards age-appropriate services and supports.

Please contact Brain Injury Australia’s Executive Officer, Nick Rushworth via email – nick.rushworth@braininjuryaustralia.org.au – or call him on 1800 BRAIN1 (1800 272 461).