What is an acquired brain injury?
Who we are?
What do we do?
What can we not do?
How do I refer?
What can I expect when I make a referral?
How do I contact PRABIS?
Team Members
What is an acquired brain injury?
An acquired brain injury (ABI) is damage to the brain after a period of normal development. This damage can be caused by a number of issues, which include:
An acquired brain injury (ABI) is damage to the brain after a period of normal development. This damage can be caused by a number of issues, which include:
- traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- circulatory disorders including strokes, bleeds
- interruptions of oxygen supply to the brain, for example choking, near drowning
- central nervous system (CNS) infection, for example meningitis
- tumour and associated treatments, for example radiation
Who we are?
PRABIS is a regional, multi-professional service.
The team are highly experienced and provide expert clinical knowledge about paediatric brain injury from their individual professional fields.
The team consists of:
- Clinical Psychology
- Occupational Therapy
- Speech and Language Therapy
What do we do?
Support to existing children’s services
We support children’s services within healthcare, education, juvenile justice and in the charity sector, to recognise and respond to the needs of children and young people who have experienced an acquired brain injury.
Consultation, Signposting and Training
Service providers are supported to provide a quality service to children with ABI and their families through consultation, signposting, and training. Example topics for discussion include:
- understanding and supporting cognitive difficulties
- managing fatigue
- increasing functional independence
- supporting with communication challenges
What can we not do?
PRABIS offers support to other services, and as such is not able to provide input directly to the child and/or family.
Consultations and training are only offered to services with whom the child already engages.
How do I refer?
Referrers can complete our referral form and email it to the service email address: prabis@belfasttrust.hscni.net
Referral forms can be downloaded below:
What can I expect when I make a referral?
A member of the team will be in touch to discuss the level of support that could be most useful to meet your needs, and how this could be arranged.
Consultations typically take place on Microsoft Teams, and last approximately 1 hour. It is the expectation that the referral agent will invite any appropriate staff and provide any relevant information and assessment outcomes.
Training sessions can be delivered face to face, or virtually depending on needs and preference.
We also provide a rolling calendar of training events across the region.
We would be happy to speak to you about upcoming events in your area, or the possibility of arranging a bespoke training session to meet your individual service’s needs.
How do I contact PRABIS?
The team can be contacted by-
Email: prabis@belfasttrust.hscni.net
Telephone: 028 961 50934
Post: Royal Victoria Hospital,
Level 9C,
Outpatients Building,
274 Grosvenor Road,
Belfast,
BT12 6BA
Team members
Dr Katie Burns, Clinical Psychologist
Naomi Brown, Occupational Therapist
Nadine Stevens, Speech and Language Therapist