Riverside Partners with Ireland on Brain Injury Certification Program

On Wednesday, June 19^th at the Davenport Hotel in Dublin, with the expertise of Riverside’s own Tom Hall, Minister Kathleen Lynch, Minister of State for Disability, Equality and Mental Health in Dublin, launched the first certified brain injury specialist training in Europe. Tom Hall is the Associate Division Director for Clinical Services for Riverside Community Care in the DCS division and has worked for 30 years in the field of applied behavior analysis, including 25 years with individuals recovering from brain injury. He is a Certified Brain Injury Specialist Trainer, and has presented at numerous conferences.

Hall serves as the Chair of the Academy of Certified Brain Injury Specialists’ (ACBIS) International Committee which collaborated with Acquired Brain Injury-Ireland (ABI-I) and the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) designing an Irish version of the training program, and Essential Brain Injury Guide. The certification program provides training to frontline staff and professionals working with individuals with an acquired brain injury (ABI) in Ireland.

Hall said, “Hundreds of hours from devoted clinicians, technical experts and individuals passionate about ABI care have gone into this project and the results are truly remarkable. The Irish Essential Brain Injury Guide and training curriculum will contribute greatly to ABI care in Ireland. ABI Ireland has paved the way and set the standard for others who wish to develop ABI certification in their country.”

When presenting the new program the Minister said, “This new Certified Brain Injury Specialist (CBIS) training will ensure that more and more of our professionals working in this area will deliver the best rehabilitation possible”.

Hall is also working with ACBIS on implementing the certification process in the UK, which he expects will be completed by the end of the summer.