The Peter Bradley Foundation yesterday launched a campaign to raise awareness of acquired brain injury (ABI). The first stage of the Mind Your Head campaign is aimed at cyclists.
"Wearing a helmet is not only a preventative measure in terms of head injuries, it can also reduce time spent recovering in hospital and the duration spent in rehabilitation," said Barbara O'Connell, chief executive of the Peter Bradley Foundation.
Ms O'Connell said it was important for the Department of Health to recognise those with ABI as a distinct disability group so that funding could be allocated to developing further services.
"We continue to find people with ABI wrongly placed in psychiatric hospitals and nursing homes because of a lack of understanding and because there are no adequate support services," Ms O'Connell said.