 | Robb Rose is Director of Marketing Operations at Wesley Rehabilitation Hospital of Wichita. Robb is also a Respiratory Therapist, Boarded Disability Analyst and Adjunct Faculty for Wichita Sate University. He holds a Masters in Human Resources from Webster University. Robb serves on the American Lung Association Regional Council and the American Heart Association Board of Directors. Robb is married and has 2 children. He can be reached at (316) 729-9999 |
Health & Rehabilitation
2008-10-01 08:48:00
What is TBI?
Answer: TBI stands for traumatic brain injury. Traumatic brain injury is a major public health challenge, particularly among young males 15-24 years old and in both sexes 75 and older. Children younger than 5 are at high risk as well.
Behaviors and life skills are obvious risk factors in these three groups: Young males, from risk behaviors involving cars, motorcycles, skiing, drugs and alcohol; older individuals from falls; and children, from trauma and abuse.
TBI health care costs in the U.S. are greater than $65 billion a year, and more than 5 million Americans are survivors of TBI. These survivors generally live and function with disabilities that include cognition or thinking issues, loss of memory, loss of reasoning skills, personality changes, sensory-related issues (i.e., smell, touch, hearing, taste, seeing), communication challenges, and behavioral/mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, aggression/irritability and inappropriate response to regular activities of daily living.
Within days to weeks after a mild, moderate or severe head/brain injury, 40 percent of TBI patients will realize post concussion syndrome symptoms such as those mentioned above. The most common cognitive impairment is memory loss, characterized by loss of specific memories and the inability to form or store new memories.
Many of the symptoms of TBI are very similar to those of a stroke (CVA) patient, and share the trauma or insult injury to the brain. Advances in imaging/radiology allow for rapid diagnosis and appropriate acute care treatments and triage.
Once stabilized, over days, weeks or months most patients benefit from progressive rehabilitation that includes a multidisciplinary approach with nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. Recreational therapy provides additional benefits that include social interactions and even video games, to stimulate the brain for healing and rerouting of neurological pathways.
Behavioral counseling for patients and their caregivers is important, as the road to healing can be long and challenging. Neuropsychological evaluations by a qualified clinical psychologist are essential to coordinating the individual patient’s needs and plan of care. Each patient’s head or brain injury is unique to that patient and needs individualized attention. Because a fair number of similarities are known about TBI in general, care is modeled around nationally known standards of care.
In recent years, awareness of TBI has been raised from conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, due to the methods used in attacks on our military that result in our soldiers sustaining head/brain injuries. As medical care stretches to provide immediate and long term care to these TBI-affected soldiers, the technologies and functional rehab care will continue to be better understood and implemented.
Early interventions, and proper diagnosis and interventions, followed by progressive rehabilitation programs, provide quality outcomes. But prevention is always better than treating TBI.
