Episode 5: “How Does Intimate Partner Violence Impact Women’s Brain Health?”

“ Once a women has experienced a brain injury and IPV she is at much higher risk of experiencing another brain injury because she is now is dealing with some cognitive challenges and all the things that come along with a brain injury…” – Karen Mason

Content Warning: discussions of partner violence and traumatic brain injury.

If you feel unsafe in your home or relationship and need support, visit the following websites to discover shelters and other supports that could help you transition to a life free of abuse. If you are in immediate danger, call your country’s emergency line such as 911 in North America or 112 in Europe.

• Canada
• UK

In this episode, Sidney and Rebecca sit down with Karen Mason and Dr. Paul van Donkelaar, co-founders of SOAR, or Supporting Survivors of Abuse and Brain Injury through Research – a multi-disciplinary research collaboration between University of British Columbia Okanagan and Kelowna Women’s Shelter. We talk about some of the many ways that intimate partner violence (IPV) can have long term impacts on women’s health – in particular the effects of traumatic brain injury.

Links to resources mentioned in this episode/ further reading material:

• SOAR: (Supporting Survivors of Abuse and Brain Injury through Research) is a multi-disciplinary, community-engaged, research partnership between the University of British Columbia (UBC) – Okanagan and Kelowna Women’s Shelter in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. SOAR explores the incidence and effects of brain injury in women survivors of intimate partner violence
• Brain Injury Associations in Canada
• Concussion Awareness Training Tool Online for Women Support Workers (free online course)

Guest Biographies:

Karen Mason is co-founder and director of community practice for SOAR, former executive director of Kelowna Women’ Shelter, and executive director at Third Space Charity which provides free supportive care counselling to young adults in Kelowna, B.C., Canada. A seasoned and passionate non-profit leader, communicator, and community collaborator, Karen brings 30+ years of career experience to her work advocating for survivors of intimate partner violence, (or IPV) people experiencing homelessness, and promoting a mentally healthy community.

Dr. Paul van Donkelaar is co-founder and principal investigator for SOAR. He is also a professor in the School of Health and Exercise Sciences and Associate Vice Principal, Research at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus in Kelowna, B.C., Canada. His program of research focuses on the basic mechanisms of sensorimotor control and the cerebrovascular, neurocognitive, and sensorimotor aspects of brain dysfunction resulting from traumatic brain injury (TBI). Since 2016, he has started to focus his research on better understanding brain dysfunction in women who have experienced intimate partner violence-related TBI in collaboration with the Kelowna Women’s Shelter through the SOAR project.