Your Weekly Dose of #5ThoughtsFriday: A description of what we think is important at BIAMD
  #5Thoughts Friday
The "Bayer Aspirin" Edit ion
03/06/2020
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MARCH 26-27, 2020

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Here are the 5 things we thought were
worth sharing with you this week:
This Offering is part of BIAMD's Membership Content Initiative, and will become a part of the Member Exclusive content available on the BIAMD Member Portal Archive.

The idea of communicating with legislators is intimidating for many people. Without feedback from their constituents (the people who live in the district or state that they represent and vote for or against them in the next election) legislators may not be fully informed of the needs or concerns of the communities that they represent. Having the opportunity to meet people who have been impacted by brain injury gives a face and a story to discussion about policy on both the State and Federal level. Anyone can advocate for an issue that is important to them. This article will describe some approaches that will make it easier for people with brain injury and their supporters to start engaging with legislators.

Legislators and their staff typically know some information about a wide range of topics. Exactly how well they understand brain injury and potential policy implications related to brain injury will vary person to person. With over 2.87 million hospitalizations, emergency department visits and deaths due to traumatic brain injury estimated by the Centers for Disease Control in 2015 nationwide and 45,000 hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and deaths due to traumatic brain injury estimated in Maryland the same year, chances are that the legislator or staffer has some experience with a person in their life or themselves experiencing a brain injury. 
 
CLICK HERE to download and read more of Catherine's article and find links to YOUR legislators.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE ON THE HOME ACT

(Expanding the housing policy of Maryland to include providing for fair housing to all citizens regardless of source of income)

Very late Wednesday night (close to 10 p.m.) the House Environment and Transportation Committee voted SB 530 (the Senate version of the HOME Act) favorably out of committee. 

Both SB530 and HB 231 will be reported out on the House floor on Friday 3/6.  
Photo by  Brandi Ibrao  on  Unsplash
Homelessness is a tough issue to quantify and study. The most recent tally by the U.S. government estimates there are nearly 600,000 homeless people in the U.S. And if you add in homeless people in other developed nations, that number reaches more than 1 million.

Social scientists have dedicated decades of research to understanding how and why people become homeless, and how to help. Now a new systematic review sheds light on a possible contributing factor to homelessness.

Canadian public health researchers have documented a startling incidence of brain injuries among homeless people. In a meta-analysis published last December in The Lancet, researchers from British Columbia combined the data from 38 studies to better understand the connection between traumatic brain injuries and homelessness.

They found that more than 50 percent of homeless people have experienced a traumatic brain injury of some sort – more than double the rate in the general population. And approximately 22 percent of homeless people have experienced a moderate to severe traumatic brain injury; that is 10 times the prevalence in the general population.

CLICK HERE to read more on this story.

CLICK HERE to read the Lancet article.
In a ranch house not far from the stadium where Bill Stanfill played college football, there is a picture of the hulking defensive lineman from the final seconds of the Super Bowl played at the end of the 1972 season. In the black-and-white photo, Stanfill and a teammate, Vern Den Herder, are tackling Washington Redskins quarterback Billy Kilmer.

The sack was the final play of the game, a thumping exclamation point on the N.F.L.’s only perfect season. The 1972 Dolphins used a bruising running game and a ferocious defense to finish with a 17-0 record, a feat that inspired the N.F.L. to name them  the best team in history .

In the lead-up to the N.F.L.’s 54th Super Bowl, on Sunday in Miami Gardens, Fla., the ’72 Dolphins are being feted as heroes. But aging, the toils of life and the brutality of the game have attached a cost to their glory.

CLICK HERE see how football's Perfect Team is faring.
2) What We are Reading and Watching
We Know You Will Enjoy

The two basketball buddies from Indiana, Josh Speidel and Everett Duncan, envisioned this happening hundreds of times in their careers at the University of Vermont: Duncan finding Speidel with a bounce pass, and Speidel finishing with a layup.

Instead it happened only once, on Tuesday, when the Catamounts celebrated their seniors during the last game of the regular season. That the play happened at all was a testament to Speidel’s resilience, and to the work of many others at the campus that sits about 45 miles south of the Canadian border.
Shortly after committing to Vermont as a prized recruit, Speidel, now a redshirt senior,  suffered a severe brain injury in a February 2015 car accident . Speidel, who had been known for his scoring and rebounding, was still in a coma in an Indianapolis hospital when Vermont Coach John Becker visited him and promised his parents, David and Lisa, that the university would honor his scholarship.

CLICK HERE for more on this inspiring story.
1) Quote We Are Contemplating...

“I told Dad about yesterday...I told him how I made all those mistakes.

'But you kept on playing?' Dad said. His eyes got wide when he said it. I could tell he was proud.

'Everybody does,' I said. 'You can't just get up and walk away every time you mess up. You'd never get anywhere.”

Have you ever clicked on the pictures posted at the end of every #5ThoughtsFridays? Try it. You might learn something fun!
Photo by  Yoksel 🌿 Zok  on  Unsplash
HAVE A WONDERFUL
WEEKEND.
(EVEN THOUGH WE
"LOSE" AN HOUR OF SLEEP!)

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This blog is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute endorsement of treatments, individuals, or programs which appear herein. Any external links on the website are provided for the visitor’s convenience; once you click on any of these links you are leaving BIAMD's #5ThoughtsFriday blog post. BIAMD has no control over and is not responsible for the nature, content, and availability of those sites. 

  Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful weekend.