When her son suffered and survived a brain injury, the founder of the Logan-based NeuroRhythm Pilot Program, Belinda Adams, began searching for activities to promote his rehabilitation and improve his quality of life.
Once she realised there were limited programs available, particularly in the arts and culture space, Ms Adams got to work. In recognition of her contributions to community health Ms Adams was awarded the an recognition of my contributions to community health so I am an OAM
“I am a carer myself of a son with a brain injury, and that drove me to become an advocate when I realized the lack of resources, especially for community-based programs,” she said.
“I was part of creating Ballet for Brain Injury with the Queensland Ballet and Griffith University. And after that, I had an idea.
“I pitched it to the Heart Foundation’s Active Australia Innovation Challenge last year. I didn’t think I would get selected, because it was pretty intense, but I was one of the 10 projects that was selected.”
It was then that the NeuroRhythm Pilot Program, a five-week Djembe drumming program for brain injury survivors, was born.
The program in its final week last month hosted a performance showcase at Club Noir, Performance Studios, in Loganholme.
Six brain injury survivors, their carers, support care workers, and program facilitators showcased their newly honed Djembe drumming skills.
Djembe drumming is a West African style of drumming. It is one of the few activities that engages both hemispheres of the brain and can aid in building new pathways in the brain.
“The program has been co-designed by clinicians and people with lived experience of brain injury,” Ms Adams said.
“We held a workshop to discuss and work out how this would be best designed and tailored specifically for people with brain injury.
“We’ve also had an occupational therapist there for every class, and she has done a pre-program measure and will do a post-program measure this Saturday.”
While NeuroRhythm’s current program is not focused on research aiming to prove a link between Djembe drumming and its effects on TBI rehabilitation, Ms Adams said she hoped the pilot program would be expanded.
“I’m an ambassador for the Hopkins Center and researcher myself, so it’s definitely an area we want to explore moving forward.”
One in 45 Australians live with a brain injury, according to data from the Australian Institute of Health and Wellness.
Long-term effects and symptoms of brain injuries are often invisible. Ms Adams said many people living with a brain injury “and look completely fine, and so it’s quite difficult even to be believed sometimes when you’re trying to access resources.”
TBI survivors commonly experience neuro fatigue, short-term memory loss, and an inability to regulate body temperature.
“The most common feedback we’ve had is about the connection to other people who are going through The same journey and understand exactly what challenges because people with brain injury often it’s an invisible disability, so there’s sometimes a lack of understanding in broader society of what barriers people with brain injury are actually living with day to day,” she said.
“It’s been incredible to watch the progression over such a short space of time. Drumming is actually quite difficult sometimes to get both sides going at the same time, and they’ve really mastered it over the last couple of weeks.”
“And I include myself in that. I’ve been learning as well, and it’s not easy.”
Ms Adam’s son was a participant in the pilot program.
“That’s been a first for us doing that together. It’s been really rewarding to have that time and share that experience with him.”
Day to day, Ms Adams works full time in the film industry, as a coordinator in different roles, but has learned a lot about filmmaking gone on to produce projects of her own.
A short documentary she made about the Ballet for Brain Injury project was selected to play at the United Nations General Assembly Arts Festival closing dinner at Carnegie Hall in 2024. It was also a finalist in the World Heath Organisation’s ‘Health for All’ film festival.
Ms Adams has documented the NueroRhythm Pilot Program on film, hoping to capture how living with a brain injury has impacted the lives of participants, their ongoing process of recovery and journey through the program.
“The power in film is hearing how it’s improved the lives of all the participants already in their first-person accounts, and it’s just been quite an emotional journey, I think, for all of us,” she said.
“Each person that we’ve interviewed has a whole different story to tell on what the effects are that they are living with, but one of the things, the common thread that tied everyone together, is the lack of community connection programs for people with brain injury.
“I hope the film will raise awareness of how important these programs are, at a time when we’re discussing funding for arts and health programs in rehabilitation.
“When people attend these kinds of programs, they’re musicians, they’re not in a clinical space. It’s really, I think, important for their mental wellbeing as well as their physical.”
Ms Adams hopes the success of the pilot program will make way for similar projects focused on TBI rehabilitation to be established and made accessible to more people.
“We’re definitely exploring all options with what comes next.”
