Fraser Valley Brain Injury Association acknowledges that we work and gather on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Stó:Lō and Coast Salish People.
Thank you to Jody Jones, First Nations Health Authority for connecting FVBIA with Indigenous Elder Amelia (right with Chilliwack Brain Injury Centre Manager Esther Tremblay).
Elder Amelia shared stories, sacred teaching and healing with FVBIA members in Chilliwack during six visits.
Traumatic brain injury disproportionately affects indigenous people. (Brain Injury Canada).
In a 2017 review of 15 published studies that focussed on the prevalence or incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in indigenous populations, 12 of them demonstrated that indigenous people have a higher rate of TBI compared to non-Indigenous people.
Few studies explored culturally appropriate rehabilitation and intervention methods and Indigenous understandings of TBI. [1]
[1] Lakhani A, Townsend C, Bishara J. Traumatic brain injury amongst indigenous people: a systematic review. Brain Inj. 2017;31(13-14):1718-1730. doi: 10.1080/02699052.2017.1374468. Epub 2017 Sep 19. PMID: 28925726.