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Support Groups and Brain Injury Information

Support Groups

Why Attend a Support Group Meeting?

The purpose of a support group is to learn more about brain injury and available services by meeting with others who are facing or have faced similar challenges. The essential elements of a support group are:

• Gather information
• Share common needs and strengths
• Provide a place to meet new friends and find new connections in the community
• Provide a safe place to find courage and take risks
• Provide an opportunity to socialize
• Provide and environment where positive and negative views can be expressed without being judged

NOTE: All Support Groups Welcome Survivors, Family, and Friends!

For specific Support Group information and special speakers, check your latest issue of What's Happening. You can download our most recent edition from our  News Page 

New Castle County:

3rd Thursday of each month except Dec. at, 7:00 pm.
Facilitators: John & Margie Goodier (302) 378-0375
Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children, Room #1, Bluebird Blvd.
1600 Rockland Road, Wilmington
Note: To attend pre-meeting dinner group (at your expense) contact Matt by phone at (302)998-0782 or David (302)453-1634 by the Tuesday before the meeting and meet at Hollywood Grille at Concord Pike & Murphy Rd. Between 5:15 and 5:30 pm. 

Kent County:

2nd Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm (Except for December)
Facilitators: Multiple facilitators
840 Walker Road, Walker Sq., Dover
For information call 1-800-411-0505 

Sussex County - Daytime Meetings:

First & Third Tuesday of each month (except December) from 1:00 to 3:00pm
Facilitators: Beverly & Ed Bell (302) 537-9016
Millville Volunteer Fire Co., Rt. 26, Millville, DE

Salisbury, MD

2nd Tuesday each month at 6:00pm
Facilitator: Dr. Glennwood Brooks (410) 545-4600 or (800) 938-4600
Chesapeake Rehab. Hospital, Health South, Employees dining room
Rt. 50 & Tilghman Road, Salisbury, MD

Brain Injury Information

The term "Brain Injury" can mean one of two types of injury, either ABI or TBI. These terms are described below.

Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) is an injury to the brain that is not hereditary, present at birth, or degenerative. Causes include traumatic brain injury; anoxic/hypoxic injury (e.g. heart attack, carbon monoxide poisoning), intracranial surgery, seizure disorders and toxic exposure (e.g. substance abuse, ingestion or inhalation of volatile agents).

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), with or without skull fracture, is an insult to the brain caused by an external physical force that may produce a diminished or altered state of consciousness. (This type of brain injury is what we mean when we discuss prevention.)

Brain injury may result in an impairment of cognitive abilities (e.g. perception, memory, or judgment), physical, behavioral or emotional functioning. A brain injury may be either temporary or permanent and may cause either partial or total functional impairment.

Mild brain injury, also known as concussion, is an injury that may leave the person feeling dazed or cause a brief loss of consciousness. Mild brain injury can lead to "post-concussion syndrome" that can include headaches, dizziness, mild mental slowing, and fatigue. For some people, symptoms may last only a few months; for others, problems may persist indefinitely.

National Statistics About Brain Injury

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), TBIs contribute to a substantial number of deaths and cases of permanent disability annually.

Of the 1.4 million who sustain a TBI each year in the United States:

• 50,000 die
• 235,000 are hospitalized
• 1.1 million are treated and released from an emergency department.

Among children ages 0 to 14 years, TBI results in an estimated:

• 2,685 deaths;
• 37,000 hospitalizations
• 435,000 emergency department visits annually.

The number of people with TBI who are not seen in an emergency department or who receive no care is unknown. 

Delaware Statistics About Brain Injury

According to the Delaware Trauma System Registry, from 2000 to 2003, over 1100 people were admitted to Delaware Hospitals with TBI. Since 2003, this number increased to more than 1375 per year. These figures include more than 150 children ages 0 to 14 per year.

More recent information has become available through the State's Trauma Registry. Data collected from two five year studies (from 1994-98 and 2001-05) shows.

• Hospitalization for TBI increased 14.6 percent
• The largest increases were in the age groups of 75-84 and 85+
• Males accounted for 63% of all TBI associated discharges
• Patients aged 15-24 accounted for the largest single proportion (19% of total hospitalizations)
• TBI hospitalization rates for males were twice that of females

For more information, please check out Delaware Health Statistics Center.