Traumatic brain Injury (TBI) is the most common cause of death and disability among people under forty in the developed world and is particularly common amongst prisoners. It increases the chance of risk taking behaviour and those injured are four times more likely to become offenders.
Working with the British Psychological Society, we designed, implemented and managed a campaign to increase awareness about head injury within the Scottish Government and amongst key opinion leaders. The campaign specifically aimed to secure political support for funding a study on screening prisoners for head injuries and increasing the services and enquiries around potential brain injuries.
We built a coalition around the issue with third party champions: individuals and organisations with credibility in the health and justice sectors, to encourage the government to provide funding for a study, as recommended by the working group.
In June 2017, the Scottish Government awarded funding to examine the practicality/validity of introducing screening tools for head injury in prisoners and establishing links with local brain injury and neuropsychology services.
This campaign won Gold in the public affairs category at the CIPR PRide Awards.
