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By On May 15th, 2008

Young People with TBI in Nursing Homes

The magic of 18 is more than a coming of age event for a young person with a brain injury living in a residential care facility. That birthday may signal placement in a skilled nursing facility filled with older adults, isolating them from peers, school, family and the community. Young people with severe disabilities resulting from traumatic brain injury may require a level of care which can only be funded in a nursing home facility based on the current restrictions in funding. At this point there are few other options available for a growing number of young people who face a lifetime of disability and require significant physical care.

The odds favor survival for young people involved in serious accidents and medical advancements are allowing more individuals to survive. Unfortunately, the options for placement other than home are limited to facilities where there may be few other young adults and little in the way of programs and services which can sustain progress. A far cry from the school programs and pediatric facilities designed to serve young people with disabilities.

There is a need for specialized facilities and programs which can serve young people with severe disabilities from brain injury. These places don’t have to be nursing homes and, in fact, other care environments may enhance independence and community participation and add to a quality of life. In order to create alternatives we need to revise the restrictions placed by Medicare and Medicaid. Some states have implemented brain injury waiver programs to support home, community and specialized services and have fostered the development of effective alternatives. A story in the New York Times of May 15, 2008 addresses the needs of people with severe disabilities who are turning 18 and frames out the issues.

Click here to read the NY Times story

4 Responses

  1. Linnie beu says:

    I have a thirty six year old daughter that became totally disabled in her early twenties
    She has been in a nursing home for the last four years and is miserable because there
    Are no young people. It is like gloom and doom to her because so many people are dying
    Around her. I have tried to find a facility for her with younger people like her. But I don’t think
    They exist. She is on disability and the state takes care of her. She never really had a chance
    For any kind of work history. She has a disease called spinal cereberler ataxia. I would be interested in finding her a place to live.

    • Tere Smith says:

      I just saw your post. I was wondering if you found a solution in these past 3 or so years. I find myself in a similar situation.

  2. Dayna Kocher says:

    My son is 34 and also longs for not only more younger people to spend time with but also more cognitive people to talk to. He has a very dramatic case of MS and can no longer live at home. He is in a facility for younger people, with TBI, most all in Wheel chairs, and they have rehabilitative therapy, but there are just not enough residents who are as cognitive as he is and not enough activities, though they try. I am looking for resources to help me find a better nursing home for younger people and physical therapy. I wish I had a number of other parents looking for a similar need for their young adult children, to create a facility just right for them. My son is in Illinois now but the weather is not mild, either too cold or too hot most of the year to be outside, which he enjoys a lot, and we have family in the southern US, so I would ideally like to find an appropriate place somewhere down south, where most of the year he could enjoy the outdoors. He also loves to be in the pool, with a life jacket, and doesn’t get to do that where he is. Anyway, does anyone have any advice on how to find help to search for appropriate facility options for younger people who need skilled nursing care?

  3. I understand the frustration. I have a 50 yo brother who has had tbi since he was 8 yo from auto accident and he says same about nursing home.here in the Texas area there is Nothing for long term head injured care. I guess there is in Illinois. He is in a chair but is the youngest resident. Persons with TBI can have such varied needs. I need Help too! Best of luck and best wishes.

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