Partnership With the Brain Injury Alliance

Phoenix Children's has partnered with the Brain Injury Alliance of Arizona, a nonprofit community-based organization that provides statewide resources and support for children and families impacted by all forms of brain injury.

The alliance was founded in 1987 by a group of parents in Tucson who joined forces to network and assist their pediatric and adult children who survived brain injury. They were particularly interested in identifying and working with professionals who truly understood the complex journey that life-after-brain-injury entails for these children.

Phoenix Children's partnership with the Brain Injury Alliance has been preliminarily established through the support of collaborative funding from Barrow Neurological Institute at Phoenix Children's and the Division of Pediatric Surgery. The goal is to develop an ongoing permanent partnership that connects our patients and families to a wealth of community resources and support services as they move through the continuum of recovery and rehabilitation, and adjust to living with the outcomes of brain injury.

At Phoenix Children’s, we provide intensive rehabilitation along with caregiver training and education for children and adolescent patients with traumatic and nontraumatic brain injuries. About 70 percent of our patients in our Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation Program have been impacted by some type of brain injury or brain impairment. When these patients are discharged from the hospital, the Brain Injury Alliance is able to be with them for the long term because what they need now might look very different months and years ahead as they continue their journey toward healing and recovery.

A patient or family may not be ready or in need of anything specific currently. By connecting them to community-based resources early in their journey, these families will know where to go whenever they need assistance.

Parents can reach out to the Brain Injury Alliance for additional supplemental educational information about their child’s brain injury and symptoms. If their child is having behavioral challenges in school or at home, or having difficulty adapting in the community due to their brain injury, we can put them in touch with local resources, programs and support groups to help them address these specific concerns. 

Aside from behavioral and relationship challenges, patients with brain injury may have trouble with physical symptoms – from vision, hearing, sleep and emotional issues. The Brain Injury Alliance, working in partnership with the pediatric physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians and outpatient therapy treatment team, helps fill in the gaps and provides the support families need as they navigate life after their injury. They not only support children with brain injuries, but they also wrap their arms around the whole family.

By leveraging the expertise of our Brain Injury Alliance partners who are familiar with the numerous faceted needs of people with brain injury, the rehabilitation program at Phoenix Children’s can provide that continuum of care and support for these patients for the long term.

Patients and families who would like to talk to a resource facilitator from the Brain Injury Alliance can come to The Emily Center at Phoenix Children’s Hospital - Thomas Campus on Thursdays, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. There, they can meet with a brain injury resource facilitator who is a certified brain injury specialist for a guided resource facilitation session. During this visit, the Brain Injury Alliance staff will listen and evaluate an individual’s unique circumstances and connect them to the appropriate resources and programs related to their situation.

Patients and their families who are receiving inpatient or outpatient services at Phoenix Children’s can participate with the facilitator from the Brain Injury Alliance via in-person, drop in or scheduled visits at The Emily Center or via phone or scheduled Zoom meeting. To schedule an in-person or Zoom meeting, you can call 1-888-500-9165 or email resources [at] biaaz.org (resources[at]biaaz[dot]org).

Families often view their physicians and therapists as their main support line. Building our relationship with the Brain Injury Alliance allows patients and families at Phoenix Children’s to realize there are many other community resources for support and assistance.

Through the partnership with the Brain Injury Alliance, Phoenix Children's can help ensure a better future for children and adolescents with brain injuries through public awareness, education and prevention.