The head of a state brain-injury association has
been selected as a guest editor of a national trade magazine.
Michael
Davis, president of the West Virginia Brain Injury
Association, is the guest editor for the
2011:2012
winter edition of Brain Injury Professional, the official
publication of the North American Brain Injury Society.
The winter
edition is devoted to families and professionals who have worked
together to improve the lives of brain injury patients, Davis
said.
Davis
called the honor the highlight of his 30-year career advocating
for patients and their families.
"It's a
pretty good issue and not just because I put it together," Davis
said. "It really came together well. The people in this issue
are widely known professionals that have worked with brain
injury folks for a while."
The
magazine's editor-in-chief, Ronald Savage, said the winter issue
is the first edition dedicated to the family/professional
relationship.
"What
[Davis] is able to do for professionals is to train them from a
family perspective on what he and the authors felt they needed
to know from a family perspective," Savage said.
The
magazine is distributed to more than 5,000 medical
professionals, he added.
The
edition has several other local ties besides Davis. Davis
co-authored an article with both an anonymous West Virginia
parent called "Lorie G." as well as Dr. James Petrick, a
clinical neuropsychologist with an office in Morgantown.
C. Michael
Bee, who wrote an article about what attorneys must do when they
represent brain-injury victims and their families, is Davis'
personal attorney and friend.
Carolyn
Rocchio, another featured author, is a West Virginia native who
founded the Brain Injury Association of Florida.
Davis has
been advocating for brain injury patients and their families for
32 years, ever since his 8-year-old son sustained brain injuries
in a car accident in the Elkview area. A drunk driver struck
Davis and his son.
''My son
is 40 years old now," Davis said. "He functions at a 4 - [to]
5-year-old level and requires 24-hour, one-on-one care. He
really is just like a little child".
At about
the same time, the Brain Injury Association of America was
forming. The organization reached out to Davis and his wife
about becoming the West Virginia representatives for the
organization. In 1985, the couple opened the Brain Injury
Association of West Virginia. Davis was its first president and
executive director. The organization still exists today,
although not to the same extent that it did, Davis said.
"My focus
for 32 years has been how to improve lives and to better
understand what [brain-injury patients] are experiencing and
what they need to improve their quality of life," Davis said.
Davis is
also the president and senior case manager of Neurological Case
Management Associates.
He said
seatbelt laws have been one major accomplishment for
brain-injury patient advocates during his career.
"That was
a real fight to try to get a seatbelt law," Davis said.
He and
others also are hoping to have traumatic brain injury classified
as a chronic disease, which would help with funding for victims,
Davis said. Another goal has been a state adult traumatic brain
injury waiver to provide in home services to victims who are 21
years and older.
Davis said
his main goal is to raise awareness and to promote brain injury
prevention. People tend to incorrectly think of brain injuries
as a “bump on the head,” Davis said, rather than a life-changing
event.
Reach Lori Kersey at
lori.kersey@wvgazette.com or
304-348-1240
W.Va. brain-injury group leader to be honored
Jan 8, 2012 12:37pm
CHARLESTON,
W.Va. (AP) — The head of the West Virginia Brain Injury
Association has been selected as a guest editor of a national
trade publication.
Michael Davis will be guest editor for the 2011-12 winter edition
of Brain Injury Professional, the publication of the North
American Brain Injury Society. It's distributed to more than
5,000 medical professionals.
Davis is president and senior case manager of Neurological Case
Management Associates. He tells The Charleston Gazette that he
regards the honor as the highlight of his 30-year career as a
patient and family advocate.
___
Information from: The Charleston Gazette,
http://www.wvgazette.com
