According to the Brain Injury Association of America, over 5 million Americans live with traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related disabilities. Considering the inherent risks that come with serving our Nation, Veterans not only have a higher likelihood of having a TBI, but the severity and complexity of those injuries are often increased as well. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ensures that all Veterans of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are screened for mild TBI upon initial entry into VA health care. To date, our professionals have screened over one million Veterans for possible TBI.
VA is committed to providing world-class medical and rehabilitation services for Veterans and Servicemembers with TBI. Our polytrauma/TBI system of care is an integrated nationwide network of over 110 facilities with specialized rehabilitation programs, balancing access and expertise to provide the right rehabilitation care at the right time and place.
VA also tracks and compares TBI rehabilitation outcomes of Veterans within the VA health care system to those from the private sector. A parallel research project between the five VA Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers and the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems (TBIMS) is evaluating the long-term outcomes of patients who suffered TBI. VA’s rehabilitation and treatment outcomes compare favorably to those from the TBIMS, both in percentages of patients discharged to home, and patients who are independent at one-year follow-up.
With that in mind, we have made available a trio of TBI-related web-based courses on VHA TRAIN:
This program is specifically designed to provide education in the foundations of TBI, nuances of diagnosing combat-related TBI, outcomes and treatment recommendations. The modules include demonstrations of patient interviews and patient education. Six types of accreditation are offered.
Check back often as we continue to build our course catalog with Veteran-focused training. We also invite those providing care for Veterans to subscribe to specific health care training topics. This subscription provides learners with periodic VHA TRAIN e-blasts and other news tailored to their areas of interest, greatly enhancing the Veterans’ ability to receive the exceptional, coordinated and connected care they deserve.