Navigating life after a traumatic brain injury can be complicated enough. We are here to offer support and help. The Ohio Brain Injury Connection is a free resource facilitation service for all Ohioan individuals and/or their loved ones who have experienced brain injuries. To get in touch with a resource advisor, call 614-293-7785 or email obic@osumc.edu. If you feel this is an emergency, please call 911.
What to expect with the Ohio Brain Injury Connection
The Ohio Brain Injury Connection is not a medical service program. Rather, it consists of a resource advisor who will provide you with educational information and appropriate resources to help develop a plan and steps that will reach your goals throughout your brain injury journey. This is a confidential and voluntary program focusing on identifying the following:
- Navigate resources and supports responsive to their needs
- Identify the nature and extent of their history of brain injury
- Develop skills and knowledge for self-advocacy
- Identify opportunities for optimizing their brain health
- Articulate their long-term plan for achieving their goals
What is a resource advisor?
The resource advisor is a health care professional who has experience working with individuals that have a history of brain injury. The resource advisor will help an individual explore the role of brain injuries in their life, identify compensatory strategies tailored to the individual, review their brain health and make a plan to take the next steps to improve their quality of life.
How to enroll in the Ohio Brain Injury Connection
The Ohio Brain Injury Connection is a free statewide program open to all individuals living in Ohio who have been impacted by a brain injury. An individual or loved one may call or email to begin working with a resource advisor; the resource advisor will reach out within two business days. Verbal consent will be completed by the participant to agree to participation in this program. Once these steps are complete, a participant can begin to develop their individualized plan for success.
Examples of resource advisors’ guidance:
- provide information on brain injuries
- help you find appropriate support groups
- be a nonjudgmental sounding board, offering supportive listening and confidentiality
- act as a liaison with a medical provider
- help you file disability or Medicaid paperwork
- help you identify barriers and solutions to utilizing resources
- help find resources for workplace accommodations