Alabama Head Injury Foundation, Inc.

Goal #1: Establish and maintain long-term relationships with referral channels across the state to ensure that AHIF is contacted as quickly as possible following a traumatic brain injury so that services can be offered and provided in the earliest time-frame possibility when the most effective results can be achieved.
Goal #2: Successfully transition each TBI survivor into an independent living situation or into the home of a loved one who will serve as a caregiver to promote the most supportive and independent living situation possible for the survivor, and offer the long-term supports to maintain this situation (respite care, support groups, peer support programs, mental health counseling, etc.)
Goal #3: Work to promote greater awareness of the prevalence of, causes of, possible prevention of, and challenges created by traumatic brain injury across our state.

Strategy #1: AHIF will utilize its status as a certified CE/CEU provider in social work and in nursing to schedule in-services across the state with healthcare and rehab institutions to ensure they are aware of our programs/services and the referral process to notify us of a potential client as quickly as possible following their injury.
Strategy #2: Following the receiving of a referral, AHIF staff conduct a home assessment for where the TBI survivor will be going following discharge, identifying any needs and then working with the family to achieve these modifications and acquire necessary equipment as quickly as possible to ensure a smooth transition.
Strategy #3: AHIF staff then will work with the survivors and/or their family to establish an array of short-term and long-term goals that will provide the highest quality of life for the survivor and nurture the existing living situation to avoid negative outcomes. This includes the direct provision of support groups, mental health counseling, peer support programs, camp opportunities as well as contractual respite care services provided at no cost to caregivers.
Strategy #4: AHIF will focus its primary efforts on schools and youth sports to educate members of the community on the causes of TBI, and the many easy prevention methods that include helmet safety, seat belts, and practicing habits that discourage distracted driving.

AHIF utilizes the services of 8 field staff, located across the state, who live and work in the communities they serve. These specially trained staff members uniquely understand the resources, facilities, and challenges of communities across our state and allow them to create and implement customized plans that take into consideration the specific resources available in a particular community.

AHIF has seen an overall average improvement of 23.7% in its MPAI-4 assessment over the first six months, and then a slower additional 2.4% over the second six months. AHIF is seeking additional program options and strategies for how to maintain the progress made during the first six months over a longer time period, and prevent the regression that AHIF has found often begins to set in in the 2-3 year time-frame following an injury. Specifically, AHIF has partnered with 6-8 college and universities across the state to establish an inter-disciplinary therapy camp model that allows students from an array of disciplines that include speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, kinesiology, nutrition/dietician, social work, nursing, music therapy, art therapy, rehab counseling, prosthetics/orthotics, audiology and law to work with survivors and caregivers who are multiple years removed from their injury to identify new ideas and strategies for continuing their progress and ability to compensate for the long-term effects of their injury.