Your Weekly Dose of #5ThoughtsFriday: A description of what we think is important at BIAMD
  #5Thoughts Friday
The "Triskaidekaphobia" Edit ion
12/13/2019
#5ThoughtsFriday is Powered By :
Here are the 5 things we thought were
worth sharing with you this week:
This Article is part of BIAMD's Original Content Initiative, and will become a part of the Member Exclusive content available on the BIAMD Member Portal coming in January.


In late August, BIAMD staff attended the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Conference in Baltimore, MD where we connected with other professionals doing important work in the field of brain injury, disability, and older-adult communities. Among the insightful presentations we attended, many were based around cultural competency and diversity issues. Sherrill Wayland, Director of National Education Initiatives at SAGE, gave an important presentation about how to ask LGBT inclusive questions in your organization’s intake paperwork. While her presentation was geared towards the care of older adults, it provided an important reminder that individuals living with brain injury and disability come from all walks of life and that in order to provide culturally sensitive care, our intake paperwork must be inclusive of this diversity.

SAGE is a national advocacy and services organization that has been advancing the needs of LGBT elders since 1978. SAGE’s National Resource Center on LGBT Aging created Inclusive Questions for Older Adults: A Practical Guide to Collecting Data on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. This guide explains why it is important to ask inclusive intake questions and offers your organization advice for how to respectfully ask older adults questions related to sexuality and gender identity. The guide provides example questions to consider adding to intake forms and pulls quotes from interviews with older adults themselves about being asked these questions. The guide is backed by data and addresses the need to ensure confidentiality of the information received as well as insisting on service providers receiving proper cultural competency training. To date, over 40,000 copies have been downloaded from the website.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of Arin's article.
On December 20, 2019,
BIAMD is hosting a

FREE
at 2200 Kernan Drive
Baltimore, MD 21207
from 8:45am to 5:00 PM.

RSVP DEADLINE IS
Monday, December 16, 2019 if you are interested in attending.

We are limited to 15 individuals for this class.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:

CLICK HERE for a flyer.
CLICK HERE to email us your interest!

Photo by  Jonathan Rados  on  Unsplash
People who are homeless experience a disproportionately high lifetime prevalence of traumatic brain injury (TBI), according to a new UBC-led study published today in The Lancet Public Health.

The meta-analysis--which looked at 38 studies published between 1995 and 2018--is the first to look at the prevalence of TBI in people who are homeless or in unstable housing situations.

The results suggest that one in two (53 per cent) homeless people experience a TBI, and one in four (25 per cent) experience a TBI that is moderate or severe.

After comparing their estimates to studies of the general population, the researchers estimate that the lifetime prevalence of TBI in people who are homeless and in unstable housing situations could potentially be up to four times higher than in the general population. Meanwhile, the lifetime prevalence of moderate or severe TBI in this population could be nearly 10 times higher than estimates in the general population.

Based on the data they analysed, the researchers were unable to determine whether TBI increased the risk of homelessness or whether homelessness increased the risk of TBI. While more research is needed to better understand the relationship, the researchers say the findings suggest that providing stable housing might lower the risk for TBI.


CLICK HERE to read about the insights of this Canadian study.
Chief Baltimore Circuit Judge Wanda Heard received medical attention Wednesday after a defendant threw a metal water pitcher at her striking her “somewhere around the middle of her forehead" as she presided over his sentencing hearing in a downtown courtroom, court and sheriff’s officials confirmed.

Heard, who remained conscious, immediately recessed the courtroom to seek medical attention as the defendant, Travis Burroughs, was taken into custody to face new charges, court officials said.

“We are the enforcement arm of the court, and we will not allow anyone to assault or intimidate any of the judiciary officers here,” Maj. Sabrina Tapp-Harper, a Baltimore Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, said. “We take this matter tremendously seriously. We will protect this court house and all of the individuals herein.”

CLICK HERE  to find out about the importance of spontaneous order and noise to how we think.
2) What We are Reading to We Think
You Might FInd Interesting
Most of us have no idea what’s really going on inside our heads. Yet brain scientists have uncovered details every business leader, parent, and teacher should know—like the need for physical activity to get your brain working its best.

How do we learn? What exactly do sleep and stress do to our brains? Why is multi-tasking a myth? Why is it so easy to forget—and so important to repeat new knowledge? Is it true that men and women have different brains?

In  Brain Rules , Dr. John Medina, a molecular biologist, shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. In each chapter, he describes a brain rule—what scientists know for sure about how our brains work—and then offers transformative ideas for our daily lives.

Medina’s fascinating stories and infectious sense of humor breathe life into brain science. You’ll learn why Michael Jordan was no good at baseball. You’ll peer over a surgeon’s shoulder as he proves that most of us have a Jennifer Aniston neuron. You’ll meet a boy who has an amazing memory for music but can’t tie his own shoes.

CLICK HERE to read more about this wonderful book.
1) Quote We Are Contemplating...

"Attention is the rarest and purest
form of generosity."


Have you ever clicked on the pictures posted at the end of every #5ThoughtsFridays? Try it. You might learn something fun!
Photo by  Andrew Ridley  on  Unsplash
HAVE A WONDERFUL
WEEKEND. 

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  Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful weekend.