New hope for battered homeless women in the Valley

PHOENIX — Battered and beaten women living on the streets can now get much needed treatment for traumatic brain injuries.

The Barrow Concussion and Brain Injury Center has created a unique program to treat homeless women who have suffered brain injuries due to domestic violence.

“Injuries that result in thinking problems, injuries that result in memory problems, injuries that result in headaches and disability, injuries that result in epilepsy and seizures,” Dr. Javier Cardenas with the Barrow Concussion and Brain Injury Center said.

Cardenas said the center has identified a three-way link between those types of injuries, homelessness and domestic violence.

“Many of those injuries are simply unreported,” he said. “They don’t go to the emergency room, they to their doctor’s office and unless there hospitalized because of a life-threatening injury, they seek no medical care.”

The Barrow Concussion and Brain Injury Center is now working with homeless women to help with any and all domestic violence related injuries that may have caused brain damage.

“What we hope to do is identify the injuries in these people who’ve suffered them as a result of domestic violence and provide them with treatment to address the issues,” Cardenas said.

So far, the center has identified and treated more than 200 victims by working with Valley homeless shelters.