What You Need to Know
The Massachusetts State Division of Health and Human
Services offers disability services for people who have sustained an externally
caused traumatic brain injury. According to online information provided by the
department, “externally caused traumatic brain injury” is damage to the brain
caused by an external injury. For example, if you suffer a concussion or open
head injury in a car accident because you slammed against the windshield in an
impact, that is an externally caused brain injury; however, injury due to a
stroke, drug overdose, viral or bacterial disease, or other internal event,
would not qualify.
The Massachusetts Statewide Head Injury Program, or “SHIP”,
offers state residents a number of services for brain injury due to external
injury. Brain injuries can be truly debilitating, resulting in loss of vision,
hearing, memory, impulse control, cognition, language capacity, and countless
other abilities controlled within the brain.
What Kinds of Services for Brain Injury Are Available to SHIP Applicants?
The SHIP program offers several services for brain injury to
qualifying applicants, including:
·
Assistive
Technology. SHIP offers assistance in obtaining devices that may be
necessary for people who have suffered traumatic brain injury. This includes
equipment such as medication dispensers, reach extenders, grab bars and shower
chairs, and communication devices. A traumatic brain injury can inhibit a
person’s ability to speak or coordinate motor movements effectively, depending
on what part or parts of the brain sustained damage.
·
Community-Based
Support Services. These types of services are important for helping with rehabilitation
and general quality of life for individuals with brain damage. This may include
the assignment of a case manager to assess the person’s needs and coordinate
services; community support workers to help the person learn and use daily
living skills or to assist with day-to-day tasks like grocery shopping or
driving to doctor’s appointments that the injured person may no longer be able
to do on their own; individual aides to provide support and companionship; and
residential services for injured persons needing “around-the-clock” care and
support as a result of their injuries.
·
Regional
Service Centers. The SHIP program operates four community-based service
centers for eligible individuals. These service centers provide support and
opportunities that help brain injury victims regain independence and daily
living skills. The centers are located in Boston, Cape Cod, Western
Massachusetts, and Southeastern Massachusetts.
·
Respite
Services exist to provide relief for full-time caregivers of individuals who
have been disabled by a brain injury. This includes in-home respite, as well as
up to two weeks of out-of-home respite in a 24-hour treatment facility.
·
Family
Assistance Programs. SHIP can provide clinical consultants to help
brain-damaged individuals and their families develop in-home strategies to
address changes in capabilities resulting from traumatic brain injury, as well
as assistance in identifying and addressing clinical treatment needs.
·
Social
and Recreation Programs are also among SHIP’s services for brain damage.
Each program has an activities coordinator; recreational activities include
museums, sporting events, bowling, trips to amusement parks, and craft nights,
to name only a few of the recreational options.
·
Substance
Abuse Treatment is also available through SHIP for individuals with TBI who
are also recovering from addiction.
How Do I Find Out If I Qualify for SHIP?
To be eligible for SHIP services, you must be a resident of
the state of Massachusetts and have documented externally caused brain injury.
You must also, as a result of your injury, have impaired behavioral, cognitive,
social, motor, or other functioning. After you apply for SHIP, your medical
documentation will be reviewed to confirm your eligibility. People of all ages
and income levels are eligible.
If you or a loved one are a Massachusetts resident who has
sustained externally caused brain damage, and have suffered impairments in
mental or physical functioning as a result, you may be eligible for SHIP. To
find out more about what SHIP has to offer and whether you qualify for
assistance with services for brain injury, you can visit the following website:
http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/consumer/disability-services/services-by-type/head-injury/.
Or, you can call for information at (617)-204-3852 OR toll-free at
(800)-223-2559. You can also request information by emailing SHIPU@MRC.state.ma.us. If you or
someone close to you has been mentally or physically compromised by an
externally caused brain injury, SHIP can help you find and coordinate the
treatment and rehabilitation services you need.
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