Alexandra Wasti offers hope and connection to patients with traumatic brain injuries through Concussion Box initiative
Alexandra Wasti was in her first month of studying at McMaster University in Hamilton when she suffered from an unexpected concussion (mTBI). It changed the trajectory of her life. Instead of having part of her undergraduate experience filled with classes and socializing, she spent the next year shuttling between intensive concussion rehab and a quiet, dark room at home. “I lost a part of my life for a few years,” she says.
She struggled to find treatment and a community to support her, eventually working in Dr. Robin Green's Cognitive NeuroRehabilitation Sciences Lab at the KITE Research Institute. There, she can work around her ongoing recovery – and her personal experience adds to her expertise. “I give this research my all because I’m really connected to it,” the student researcher says. “Because this is something that I’ve been through and my family has been through, I could never dream of not giving my all.”
Wasti's latest initiative, funded by a Branch Out Neurological Foundation grant, is to build and donate at least 200 concussion care packages to brain injury rehabilitation facilities. On Tuesday, April 1, brain injury patients with chronic or persisting symptoms, their loved ones and medical professionals who treat them will gather from 1 to 3 p.m. in the lobby of the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute at 550 University Ave. to put the boxes together. She hopes the event itself will help counter the isolation that often comes with concussions.
The packages are called Concussion Boxes and contain a handmade eye mask, ear plugs, chocolate, decaf tea, and information about the Concussion Box Organization, whose mission is to fight loneliness in people with concussions. Wasti will also include pamphlets, information about mental health resources, upcoming patient treatment-based studies at KITE and other research institutes, and an uplifting note.
“The boxes are evidence-based, and there are studies that have shown that the individual components are important for recovery,” Wasti explains—including the need for connection to a community with similar experiences. “Patient loneliness is a major component in brain injuries.”
In addition to the Concussion Boxes, Wasti has launched the Helping Brains Heal site for people with brain injuries. The site will offer a wide range of supports, including templates for advocating for your disability, symptom tracking and lifestyle tracking, guidelines and FAQs for concussions, and links to research opportunities and organizations like the Brain Injury Society of Toronto (BIST).
It’s the website Wasti wishes she had when she had her TBI. Like the boxes, the site is designed to make it easier for people who have had concussions to find both care and community. “There’s this enormous gap between available treatment-based research opportunities and what patients know about. My message for recovery is, these are the three steps you can take: One, find your people; two, find your experts; and three, re-visualize your life to accommodate your disability,” she says. “But mostly, I want people to know, you are not alone.”
