The costs of care for a traumatic brain injury survivor is high. It can quickly deplete any savings that the immediate family members have.
A head injury is considered one of the costliest injuries that any individual can have. There are still a lot of expenses to be handled after the injured person has undergone treatment. These may include longer hospitalization and surgery. Additional costs include expenses for medicines, regular visits to the hospital, follow up laboratory tests, rehabilitation or therapy and many other indirect costs.
Loss of Income
The inability of the patient to work is also considered an additional cost since he cannot report for work. Persons who will take care of the injured person may also lose income. They may be unable to work because they will devote most of their time caring for the patient.
Cost of Rehabilitation
The exact costs of care for persons with traumatic brain injury will depend on how severe the injury is and where the treatment is to be done. The more serious the head injury is, the longer time is needed for rehabilitation.
A brain injury rehabilitation may require different kinds of therapy. These will require expenses from the immediate family. Therapies such as occupational therapy, cognitive therapy, physical therapy, as well as speech and language therapy are necessary for speedy recovery of the patient.
Mental Health Costs
Psychological evaluations and treatment are also necessary when psychological and emotional changes are seen from the patient. Several follow-up visits to the specialists and medications can add up to the expenses.
Long-term Cost of Care
Oftentimes hiring a caregiver or a stay-in nurse is necessary to reduce the burden on the relatives. This will allow the immediate family members to work or find ways to earn money to cover for the additional expenses.
A stay-in nurse or caregiver is necessary to ensure that the patient is given the proper guidance and assistance for his or her everyday tasks especially if the head injury is severe.
There are also cases when the seriousness of the brain injury will require that the patient live in a nursing care facility. The need for constant medical attention is very important. This is because of the delicate situation of the patient. This can be truly expensive. Nursing care facilities have highly paid professionals in their staff. The average cost of a nursing home is very significant. However, such decision will ensure that the health of the patient is not compromised.
Non-financial Cost
Aside from financial costs, caring for a brain injury survivor can lead to loss of support and guidance. It is inevitable that family members will have a hard time coping with the physical, emotional & mental changes in their loved one.
Sometimes, the carer can develop depression as well as other emotional pressure due to the burden of responsibility. They need to ensure that the brain injury survivor is properly taken care of.
For example, the husband may not be used to taking care of all the household tasks and caring for their children. He can be totally distraught.
In addition, if the caring father is the breadwinner, managing his time and energy between work and performing household chores can be overwhelming.
Expenses incurred from head injury therapy continue to add up and cause additional stress to the breadwinner. Emotional anguish and suffering will both run high for both the survivor and the family. More financial problems add up quickly if the traumatic brain injury victim is the sole breadwinner of the family.
How will you cope with the cost of care? If you have long-term care and disability insurance plans, you can offset some of the expenses. Medical insurance can be used to cover for some costs. There are also some public and private benefits that can be availed of so you can claim for the maximum amount of financial assistance that are available for traumatic brain injury cases.