Brain Injury Research Center
Newsletter fALL 2014 Like us on Facebook! Visit us at tbicentral.org!
Volume 1, Issue 2
Resources for People with TBI & their Friends and Family TBI IN THE NEWS Traumatic Brain Injury Reauthorization Act of 2014 - The Senate recently approved bipartisan legislation introduced by Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Bob Casey (D-Penn.) to reauthorize the traumatic brain injury (TBI) program. The measure would reauthorize the program for five years at current funding levels. Millions of Americans suffering from brain injuries receive assistance through the program. Read more here! You can also learn more about this legislation here.
IN THIS ISSUE Resources for People with TBI & Friends and Family Meet the team! Resources for Health Care professionals Research Study Highlight Publication Highlight Links from Newsletter
ABOUT US
Medicaid Waiver for People WITH TBI Home and Community-Based Services Medicaid Waiver for Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury (HCBS/ TBI) is a medicaid waiver for people with TBI from the New York State Department of Health to provide support and services to assist individuals to live as independently as possible in the community of their choice. Each waiver participant selects a Service Coordinator who will assist them in the Service Plan development as well as oversee the provision of all services provided through HCBS/ TBI to the participant. To learn about the requirements and full range of services offered, visit the program home page or refer to this handout about the waiver.
The Brain Injury Research Center of Mount Sinai (BIRC-MS) conducts cutting-edge research, with a primary focus on addressing the challenges of living with traumatic brain injury, or TBI. Our research aims to expand what is known about the long-term challenges that people with TBI face and approaches to leading better lives after injury.
CONTACT US Brain Injury Research Center of Mount Sinai 5 E.98th Street, B-15 New York, NY 10029 212-241-5152
eighteen Life-Changing AndroId Apps Do you have a smartphone? Have you ever though about how it could help you manage daily tasks? Click through to find a list of Android apps that could be useful to people with a brain injury — and their families and caregivers. No Android? No problem! Here is a list of iPhone and iPad apps for people with brain injury.
ATTENTION FRIENDS AND FAMILY! Do you care for somebody with a Traumatic Brain Injury? Would you like to meet and talk to other people in the same situation? Let us know if you would be interested in the creation of a caregiver support group here at Mount Sinai by emailing us at birc@mountsinai.org. A database of existing support groups in NY can be found at the Brain Injury Association of NY’s website.
FACTS ABOUT TBI Want to know more about traumatic brain injury? Wondering whether you or somebody you know has a traumatic brain injury? Learn more about TBI and explore some frequently asked questions by clicking here. Email us at birc@mountsinai.org and tell us what you’d like to learn more about so that we can cover it in one our next issues!
Meet The Team! Pictured (top row) Anne Ambrose, MD Lisa Spielman, PhD Chantal Brouard Margaret Brown, PhD Colette Elliot, PhD Maria Kajankova, PhD Reese Sy Pictured (bottom row) Marcel Djikers, PhD Michelle Urman Alexandra Landau Kristen Dams-O’Connor, PhD Wayne Gordon, PhD Jason Krellman, PhD Erica Kaplan, PhD Michael Nguyen, MA Gabrielle Guetta Not Pictured Elissa Flannery
The BIRC is comprised of faculty members (Dr. Gordon, Dr. Djikers, Dr. Dams-O’Connor, Dr. Krellman, Dr. Ambrose); post-doctoral students (Dr. Kajankova, Dr. Elliott, Dr. Kaplan); consultants (Dr. Brown, Dr. Spielman) and clinical research coordinators (Elissa Flannery, Michael Nguyen, Alex Landau, Michelle Urman, Reese Sy, Gabrielle Guetta.)
Resources for Healthcare Professionals DEVELOPING A MENTORING PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Learn more here ... We at the BIRC have created and consulted on various mentoring programs which have been evaluated and showed benefits to participants. In a Mentoring Partnership Program, individuals with TBI or family members who are veterans of the experience of TBI (mentors) are trained and matched with those who are new to the challenges of TBI (partners), to provide information and counsel, largely by phone. If you are interested in implementing a similar program, visit our resource page to find a program manual and workbook developed by the BIRC to facilitate the process.
BRAIN TRAUMA FOUNDATION CONTINUING EDUCATION Start your learning here ...
The Brain Trauma Foundation is dedicated to improving TBI patient outcomes worldwide by developing best practice guidelines, conducting clinical research, and educating medical professionals and consumers. The BTF conduct clinical research to provide solutions and raise public awareness and understanding about concussion and TBI. BTF offers updated continuing education activities for all levels of health care professionals caring for TBI patients. The online activities include recorded presentations, live web-based lectures, and interactive learning modules based on the latest scientific-evidence.
Research Study Highlight Late Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury (LE-TBI) The LE-TBI Project aims to learn more about the long term effects of TBI in the general population. This study is unique in that it invloves brain banking - traumatic brain injury has never been studied in the general population with brain autopsy as a major focus. The LE-TBI project will enroll living TBI survivors into the LE-TBI Brain Donor Program over three years. All particpants involved in LE-TBI at Mount Sinai will participate in: • an assessment of their cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning • an MRI scan • genomic analysis If you are interested, please call Elissa Flannery at (212)-241-4706 or email her at elissa.flannery@mountsinai.org.
Publication Highlight Dams-O’Connor K, Pretz C, Billah T, Hammond FM, Harrison-Felix C. (2014) Global Outcome Trajectories After TBI Among Survivors and Nonsurvivors: A National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems Study. J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2014 Jun 11. This study compared long-term functional outcomes of individuals with TBI who survive with those people who died more than 5 years postinjury, using individual growth curve analysis. Outcome trajectories were substantially different for survivors and nonsurvivors, suggesting that early signs of health decline may provide opportunity for intervention. Chronic disease management interventions may improve health outcomes for individuals with TBI. To read more, access the full paper by clicking here.
Links from this Newsletter The URLs below correspond to the links in this newsletter. If you are unable to open up a link in this newsletter, simply copy and paste the corresponding link below into your web browser for easy access! RESOURCES FOR PEOPLE WITH TBI & THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TBI IN THE NEWS • http://riponadvance.com/news/senate-approves-bill-reauthorize-traumatic-brain-injury-program/9093 • https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr1098 MEDICAID WAIVER FOR PEOPLE WITH TBI • http://www.health.ny.gov/publications/0548/hcbs_traumatic_brain_injury.htm • http://bianys.org/_literature_45721/Medicaid_Waiver_Program_Handout EIGHTEEN LIFE CHANGING ANDROID APPS • http://www.brainline.org/content/2011/07/20-android-apps-for-people-withbrain-injury.html • http://www.brainline.org/content/2011/05/23-lifechanging-iphone-ipad-appsfor-people-with-brain-injury.html ATTENTION FRIENDS AND FAMILY! • http://bianys.org/bianys-support-groups.htm
Links from this Newsletter (cont’d) FACTS ABOUT TBI • http://icahn.mssm.edu/research/centers/brain-injury-research-center-ofmount-sinai/resources/faq RESOURCES FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS DEVELOPING A MENTORING PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM • http://icahn.mssm.edu/research/centers/brain-injury-research-center-ofmount-sinai/publications/mentoring-partnership BRAIN TRAUMA FOUNDATION CONTINUING EDUCATION • https://www.braintrauma.org/professional-homepage/ PUBLICATION HIGHLIGHT • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24922043
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