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BEST & Etopia: A Partnership For the Pandemic Era

Posted on by Posted in BEST Updates, Caregiver Matters, Community News, Second Life Leave a comment

We have been offering discussion groups, workshops, and presentations in Second Life since 2009 and opened our official Second Life office at Etopia in 2010. 

In May of 2020 we moved all of our programming online and into our main campus; also at Etopia. Because of the restrictions the COVID-19 pandemic placed on our community BEST deepened other Second Life collaborations with long standing partners like Peninsula College in WA, Whole Brain Health in Second Life, Virtual Ability, and others. In November 2020 BEST assumed ownership of Etopia as part of our online suite of service platforms.

What’s the benefit of using a platform like Second Life for education and skills development for individuals with brain injury?

Safe Spaces For Learning & Practicing Skills

We can create situations that engage participants in scenarios within a safe environment, at their pace, with coaching and peer support. They can develop key communication skills by interacting in a situation-specific context. They can relearn transactional skills by purchasing objects or negotiating with vendors. They engage in various situational role-play activities that give participants the opportunity to practice decision-making and prioritization skills. And they engage in scenarios that help them navigate behaviors they are want to change.

Engaging in these activities reduces the anxiety of going into similar real-world situations with little or no experience.

Additionally, the scenarios can be easily and quickly modified to present new challenges or address key concerns of participants and their coaches.

Reducing Feelings Of Isolation & Depression

Many people with physical and cognitive challenges live in social isolation. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated an already difficult situation.  Second Life offers people a chance to meet others and share in social activities they otherwise might not have. Others may have a physical impairment, and Second Life gives them the virtual experience of full mobility and freedom.

Some of our participants have shared stories of going to live concerts, theater events, shopping trips, ice skating, bike riding, and a variety of other activities that they cannot do in the real world either due to COVID restrictions or the challenges of their brain injury. “The friends I have in Second Life are real friends. It’s not a game, but a kind of social media. Better than Facebook,” Tess

Etopia hosts dances, tai chi classes, a book club, discussions on healthy living, organics, and more that BEST program participants can attend and enjoy. These activities also give our program participants a chance to engage with people outside of our BEST group.

Availability Of Resources

There are resources available to our participants in Second Life that BEST participants are encouraged to explore. For example, the MAYO Clinic in Second Life hosts virtual events on diseases for residents and even includes a bookstore. Virtual Ability hosts two annual conferences; International Disabilities Rights Affirmation Conference (IDRAC) and the Mental Health Symposium. There are PTSD programs, resources on diabetes, a region dedicated to Parkinsons, and much more.

From classes to conferences, night clubs to shopping malls, Second Life offers an array of experiences that help participants re-engage after a brain injury, learn new skills, form new friendships, and rebuild their lives.

Visit our BEST in Second Life section to learn how you can join us. Here’s a short video about Etopia.

 

 

 

 

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Continuing To Be The BEST For You!

Posted on by Posted in BEST Updates, Community News, Our BEST Stories Leave a comment

Yesterday was Giving Tuesday. You probably know that from all of the emails that came into your inbox yesterday reminding you it was Giving Tuesday. Admittedly, we sent a couple of reminders, too.

There are many causes, many reasons, and many stories. Stories like Holly’s, from our BEST group in Second Life who said, “Because of my brain injury a year ago I can’t work and I’m pretty much house-bound. I discovered that the community here [Second Life] cares and is really supportive. Thank you for this holiday dinner, because otherwise, I’d have been alone.”

Stories like the one David shared during a video meeting, “For four years I had connections where I lived and then I moved here right before the pandemic hit. I don’t work since I was hit. I’m really glad for these online meetings.”

It’s stories like these and the stories we’ve heard and shared with you over the years that continue to remind us that THIS is why BEST does what it does; peer support, skills training, education for personal and professional development, outreach, awareness campaigns, and more.

So, when we reach out on social media or send an email or two asking for support, please forgive us and know that we want to be there for people like Holly and David just like we’ve always been there for you.

As for Giving Tuesday and our $5,000 donation drive, here’s how we’re doing …

We’ve raised $1,500 as of yesterday, #GivingTuesday, and with your help, we can reach our $5,000 goal by Christmas. Please donate to the COVID-19 Impact Fund or become a member by clicking here.

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BEST Launches COVID-19 Impact Fund In Response To High Rate of Brain Injury and COVID-19

Posted on by Posted in BEST Updates, Community News, Press Box, Self-Care & Mindfulness, Support Groups

We know a brain injury dramatically impacts both an individual and their family. Whether it’s for the short term or for a lifetime a brain injury changes our lives in both visible and invisible ways. Now, research is showing that the COVID-19 has significant neurological consequences for the majority of those recovering from the virus.

Because of this increased need for brain injury outreach, peer support, and family education, BEST created the BEST COVID-19 Impact Fund to provide assistance for individuals and brain injury support groups in Washington State.

UC San Diego Health neurointensivist Dr. Navaz Karanjia outlines three ways by which COVID can attack the nervous system:

  • “One, by direct viral invasion, coming through the bloodstream or by infecting the nerves in the nose — the olfactory nerves — that are attached to the brain and crawling along them to the brain.
  • Two, by the body creating antibodies that attack the brain and nervous system.
  • And three, by causing systemic inflammation to the other organs and blood vessels that can cause blood clots to form all over the body, that may get shot up through the heart to the brain, or that may form in the brain itself.”

A small study published in the New England Journal of Medicine documented neurological symptoms in a group of COVID-19 patients. Symptoms ranged from cognitive difficulties to confusion. All were identified as signs of encephalopathy, a trend that researchers in Wuhan had noticed in coronavirus patients in China in February 2020.

In April a study conducted in China found that strokes, altered consciousness, and other neurological issues were evident in approximately 36% of COVID-19 cases. These symptoms also appeared in patients without typical COVID symptoms such as fever, respretory issues, or headaches.

A study out of Spain that was published in July studied patients between 1 March and 20 April regardless of whether or not they manifested typical symptoms. The research team found that 73% of patients with COVID-19 had cerebral ischaemia; a condition in which there is insufficient blood flow to the brain to meet metabolic demand, leading to poor oxygen supply or cerebral hypoxia and thus leads to the death of brain tissue or cerebral infarction / ischemic stroke.

The need for emotional and educational support for individuals and families navigating brain injury after fighting the devastating and long-term affects of the COVID virus is critical. Without funding support groups cannot do the outreach, provide technical support, virtual meetings, and more. In Washington State BEST has been at the forefront of peer support, education, and advocacy for the brain injury community.

We know from many years of experience that support groups, in particular, allow people with brain injury and their families to meet others who are in similar situations, gain valuable emotional support from one another, form friendships, obtain information and resources, and hear speakers discuss a variety of brain injury topics.

Unfortunately, brain injury support groups were one of the first activities in early March to shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In-person support groups continue to be postponed and canceled throughout Washington at a time when they are needed most. 

BUT YOU CAN HELP! Your contribution ensures that individuals and families have a connection with support groups and the BEST resources available as we all navigate COVID-19 and the social and economic impact of this pandemic.

Our goal is to provide virtual support groups, online video meetings, events, webinars, resources, and valuable facilitator training just like we have been doing since March. But the truth is we cannot keep doing this valuable work without your help.

Help us meet the need by contributing to the BEST COVID-19 Impact Fund. This fund was created by the Brain Energy Support Team to provide COVID-19 assistance for individuals and brain injury support groups in Washington State.

Funding is critical to the brain injury community and BEST support as we work to restart, reopen, and help our community to heal and rebuild.

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BEST Mantras To Increase Your Happiness & Health

Posted on by Posted in Self-Care & Mindfulness Leave a comment

After a brain injury, it’s common for us to expect more than we might be capable of at the moment. We are, after all, our hardest critics in the best of times, let alone when we’re struggling to establish our identity and figure out what we can do and what is more difficult after a brain injury.

Think of all the things we struggle with after a brain injury – regardless if it’s because of a concussion, stroke, an aneurysm that burst, TBI, or the neurological effects of COVID-19 – dementia, irritability, aphasia, neuro-fatigue, word loss, extreme emotions, and the list goes on.

Add to the very real challenges of navigating daily life with a brain injury the constant negative self-talk we engage in without even thinking about it and we’ve got a recipe for personal disaster. We might begin to feel unhappy, depressed, or hopeless. BUT we can stop dancing with the devil of negative self-talk by repeating select mantras that can increase our happiness.

Self-talk is the easiest way to improve your well-being and increase your happiness. Positive self-talk also reduces cortisol levels because we are less stressed and more relaxed. Stress increases inflammation and weakens the immune system.

Adopt a mantra or two that you can say to yourself over and over. You don’t need a lot of them. A few good mantras will go a long way. By saying them to yourself throughout the day will make you feel happier and, in time, that feeling will come naturally. Say them when you wake up, when you take a walk, brush your hair, cook supper; anytime and all the time.

Here are three mantras that, when repeated often, can have a tremendous impact on your happiness.

I Am Grateful

  • Gratefulness is a sure way to gain happiness. When you are grateful, you are reminding yourself of the good things in your life.

I know who I am and I am enough.

  • Comparing yourself to who you were before your brain injury only focuses your attention on regrets or worries about the future. Take a quiet moment and repeat this mantra so that you are fully aware of who you are in this moment and remind yourself that it’s enough. 

I am exactly where I need to be.

  • The idea that we should be at some other point in your life or that you haven’t met an expectation or recovered from your brain injury fast enough creates an endless cycle of negative self-talk and dissatisfaction in who you are and what you may or may not be accomplishing. When you take the time to repeat this mantra you will feel more relaxed and able to accept yourself more fully for who and where you are at this point in your life.

Our words hold a lot of power, and mantras are a great way to set us on the path to happiness. When you use your words to bring positive things into your life, you will find happiness. Repeat these mantras and the difference they can make in your life.

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