Traumatic Brain Injury Resource Center

The primary goal of the programming offered at the Traumatic Brain Injury Resource Center (TBIRC) is to maximize successful outcomes for persons post-brain injury who live in Northwest Ohio as they transition from a traditional medical model system of care to a model system of care within the naturalistic context of community. This transition to community has become more important in recent years given that the admission rates for persons admitted to the Emergency Department immediately following injury discharged to home has increased by 70%, whereas hospitalization admits have increased by only 11%. The participants in programming at TBIRC have identified the need for programming that includes the following: a basic understanding of the principles of neural plasticity and how to apply these to daily living skills, both at home and within the community; implementing lifestyle modifications to maximize their overall health and wellbeing; learning effective coping strategies and the ability to apply the use of these strategies in everyday life; engagement in pre-employment and/or community service work opportunities; social participation; an understanding and ability to apply the use of compensatory strategies and aids; and, engagement in leisure pursuits. In addition, the TBIRC provides resources to families/caregivers of persons post-brain injury to include emotional support; resources; referrals; and, education.

The TBIRC offers both individual and group programming for persons post-brain injury, as well as to their families/caregivers. Programming at TBIRC has been designed to engage individuals in activities that they have identified as having meaning to them. Groups are structured to target specific skills required for successful community integration. The group format provides participants with an opportunity to acquire new skills in an environment that is conducive to learning through engagement in structured, purposeful, and personally meaningful and relevant activities. Program participants are provided with less-structured opportunities that are designed to improve their ability to transfer newly learned skills to community-based tasks which have different parameters but are similar in nature. Program participants gain increased awareness of their limitations post-brain injury and the compensatory strategies and aids that can help them to adapt to these limitations either during their recovery or in some cases, when neurological recovery is not possible. Families/caregivers are taught strategies to assist program participants with the application of compensatory strategies and aids outside of the program in order to reinforce their use.

The Traumatic Brain Injury Resource Center is housed within the naturalistic context of a community. The programming is supported in part by Mercy Health, which provides oversight to the center, as well as referrals for patients post-brain injury when they transition out of the medical model and require continuity of care through community-based programming and resources designed to meet the specific needs of this population. Mercy Health has a long and recognized history in providing state-of-the-art medical care as a Level I Trauma Center equipped with a Mobile Stroke Unit, Certified Stroke Center, and Neuro-Science Center that is rated as one of the top ten Neuro-Science Centers in the nation. In addition to providing programming to maximize independence in daily living skills, the occupational therapist employed at the center is a Certified Driver Rehabilitation Specialist and provides screening for those program participants who may be appropriate for referral for a driver evaluation and rehabilitation. In addition to community mobility, the center has created workstations that have been designed to evaluate and train program participants who have a goal of returning to productive work or gainful employment. A significant percentage of individuals post-brain injury have a history of substance abuse (including hypoxia following opioid overdose) and may benefit from participating in screening and interventions to assist them with gaining an understanding of the processes of addiction and behavior change by Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor employed at the center.

To date, we have conducted a needs assessment; designed and implemented both individual and group programming based upon the identified needs of the program participants; created an environment conducive to new learning post-brain injury; provided caregiver/family support, education, resources and referrals; developed pre-vocational work stations; identified program outcomes measures; hosted continuing education for community professionals; networked with area agencies and programs; sponsored fund-raising events; and, continued to strengthen the referral base and collaborative partnership with Mercy Health. Going forward, we plan to collect data and pursue funding which will allow TBIRC to evolve as an integral component of the continuum of care for persons post-brain injury, and their families/caregivers.