A week for raising awareness on the realities of head traumas

Today marks the end of the 17th annual Semaine québécoise du traumatisme craniocerebral, the week for raising awareness on the realities of those living with head traumas and their loved ones.

According to the Regroupement des personnes traumatisées craniocérébrales du Québec, which organizes the annual event, more than 2,000 Quebecers experience a moderate to severe head trauma every year. The majority of these come from falls ( 66 per cent of moderate and 74 per cent of severe cases) with much of the balance coming from car accidents (15 per cent of moderate and 21 per cent of severe.)

The symptoms of head trauma are often life-changing but can be hard to spot or easy to misunderstand. Victims can face personality shifts and memory problems that make relationships and personal finances, among other things, hard to maintain. Only 20 to 35 per cent of head trauma victims ever go back to work again, and many cannot hold onto their jobs for long.

As a result, the victims of a single head trauma can go far beyond the individual, as family, friends, and professional colleagues all feel the impacts of a life that has been changed, forever.

The most common consequences of head traumas include anxiety, memory loss, loss of balance, loss of inhibition, irritability, headaches, impulsiveness and aphasia, or trouble speaking, but every case manifests in different ways.

The Regroupement unites the work of 13 different regional organizations, including The Association des Accidentés Cérébro-vasculaires et Traumatisés Crâniens De l’estrie (ACTE), which is based in Sherbrooke but operates across the region. The mission of ACTE and its neighbouring regional organisations is focused on providing services to people suffering the after-effects of strokes and severe head traumas.

In the case of the local group, ACTE identifies its objectives as being to gather together and support individuals who have experienced strokes or brain traumas and their families, to provide those individuals a dynamic environment that allows for sharing and mutual support, and to promote and defend their rights and interests.

ACTE was founded in 1984 by three people: a stroke victim, a head trauma victim, and a health professional, and it began simply as a support network without any physical space. By 1989, the group had 30 members and was able to secure a space to serve as a base of operations. It grew significantly over the following two decades, in membership as well as service offerings. In 2019, the organization opened satellite offices in Coaticook, Lac-mégantic and Magog.

The association works in partnership with other support services either provided through the healthcare network itself, or thorough other organizations like the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Under normal circumstances, the activities of ACTE range from art workshops and physical activities to psychosocial support and office hours meant to help members keep their lives on track. The association’s offices are currently operating on an appointment-only model, with the vast majority of its group activities moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The work of the organization goes on through telephone and remote-contact options for support workers which, in some ways, bring the organization back to its roots.

Despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic period, the 213 members of the organization continue to remain connected through a reange of creative new approaches.

To contact ACTE, dial 819 8212799, email acte@acteestrie.com, or visit http://acteestrie.com/ for more information.

Despite the restrictions of COVID-19, the provincewide week of awareness and support was still able to go ahead with modification to take place mainly through online workshops. The theme of the week has been “Lasting Shock,” offering the opportunity to talk both about the initial accident as well as the ongoing effects.

More information on the Regroupement des personnes traumatisées craniocérébrales du Quebec is available online ( in French) at https://www.connexiontccqc.ca/