Brain Injury Resource Facilitation: A Consensus of Best Practices
In 2023, the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators (NASHIA) was awarded a grant from the Moody Foundation to develop consensus related to the practice of resource facilitation. Elements for consideration included the name, core components, principles and approaches, evaluation and measurement, and data collection.
To accomplish these objectives, NASHIA implemented a Delphi Consensus process with brain injury leaders across the country.
Six-month Post-release Outcomes for Inmates With Traumatic Brain Injury in Supported Community Programming
The latest publication supported by the NASHIA team! Judy Dettmer, NASHIA’s Director of Technical Assistance and Special Projects assisted with this resource related to tracking outcomes of individuals released from the justice system with TBI.
The goal of this study was to examine the effectiveness of case management services for a population of justice-involved individuals with TBI history. The data suggests that receiving services can prevent an escalation of psychosocial needs.
Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries and Risk for Affective and Behavioral Disorders
A recent publication from Pediatrics focused on the potential long-term effects of mTBI in children. The study found that children who sustain an mTBI are at increased risk of having a new affective or behavioral disorder within 4 years of the injury.
The study’s findings have important implications not only for health and development of children with a history of mTBI, but also for the management of students with mTBI in schools. These findings are compelling support for the National Concussion Surveillance System and having at least one school professional at every school trained on TBI.
Competencies for Training Juvenile Services on Justice-Involved Youth with Traumatic Brain Injury
Article published in the Journal of Applied Juvenile Justice Services, January 2024.
ABSTRACT
Research indicates young individuals with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in juvenile justice settings lack essential support, mainly due to staff members' insufficient knowledge and skills in TBI-related areas stemming from a lack of relevant professional development. This study aimed to improve services for justice-involved youths with TBI in juvenile correction facilities by establishing empirically validated core competencies tailored to their needs. Through a Delphi study involving experts in juvenile services, juvenile corrections, TBI, transition services, and professional development, we identified and refined a set of 44 competencies distributed across six domains: knowledge (12 competencies), screening (6 competencies), eligibility (3 competencies), assessment (4 competencies), intervention (10 competencies), and community reentry (9 competencies).
Treatment Court Toolkit for Supporting Individuals w/ ABI
Each year, approximately 1.5 million Americans sustain a brain injury, and an estimated 5.3 million Americans are living with the effects of one. While the incidence of brain injuries in the general population is alarming, the prevalence among justice-involved individuals is staggering, so much so that the CDC recognizes brain injury in prisons and jails as an important public health problem.
All Rise's Justice for Vets has partnered with NASHIA to develop a new toolkit designed to help treatment courts better identify, assess, treat, and support individuals with acquired brain injury in their programs.
Building Capacity of Veteran Treatment Courts: Resources for Brain Injury Programs
The prevalence of brain injury among veterans is high, and especially so for those veterans who are engaged in the criminal legal system. Veteran treatment courts provide an ideal opportunity for a partnership between brain injury programs and the courts to ensure better outcomes for the veteran. This toolkit provides state brain injury programs an overview of what veteran court is, a video from a judge’s perspective designed to promote buy-in for the need for this support, tip sheets for a variety of audiences, and PowerPoint training slide decks to aid in training efforts.
A Report on Barriers to Community Integration of People with Traumatic Brain Injury in Ohio Nursing Facilities
Disability Rights Ohio and the Ohio Brain Injury Program collaborated on a project focused on community integration for people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) living in nursing facilities in Ohio. The purpose of the project was to identify major service gaps that are barriers to people with TBI living in the community and to use the information to inform changes in state support systems so that people with TBI are more integrated into their communities.
TBI Youth Justice Website
NASHIA is proud to be a project partner with McMaster University as they launch the TBI Youth Justice website, a freely available resource and toolkit for and about children and youth (up to <25 years) with TBI who intersect with the criminal justice system internationally. The work of this international collaboration aims to make a difference in the trajectory and outcomes for childen and youth in the justice system around the globe.
Strong Infrastructure Components for Brain Injury (BI): State Self-Assessment Tool
Building a strong state infrastructure takes time, effort, and planning from many individuals and organizations. There are several key components necessary to create a comprehensive state system of services, partners, funding, and policy. Infrastructure building is a process and requires routine assessment, regardless of the level achieved. This tool, Strong Infrastructure Components for Brain Injury (BI): State Self-Assessment Tool, produced by ACL's Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Technical Assistance and Resource Center (TARC) was created to assist BI partners and collaborators in determining which level best describes their state’s progress, and to give some guidance to what a more comprehensive system could include. It is designed to be a guide, and states should consider re-assessing routinely, or at various points to assist in state planning efforts, such as conducting a new needs assessment, developing, or updating a state plan, or applying for a grant opportunity.
Sex, Gender and TBI: A Path to Recovery and Care
NASHIA's partners at the KITE Toronto Rehabilitation Institute University Health Network recently disseminated an important resource for the brain injury community: Sex, Gender and TBI: A Path to Recovery and Care.
The materials (infographics packaged up in an easy to view "flip-book") can be shared widely. The authors of the resource hope that people with brain injury and their families find this educational material useful in helping them understand brain injury, what to expect, and the implications of sex and gender for their injury journey.
NASEM - Improving Systems of Care for Traumatic Brain Injury
The National Academies Forum on Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) hosted a hybrid public workshop in May 2023 to explore what is needed to better serve adult TBI patients who require follow-up care in support of their recovery at home. Speakers discussed when and how to follow up with less-severe TBI patients who have been discharged to their homes after a brief period of acute care, and the varied needs, issues, and considerations that relate to outpatient care and at-home symptom management during the approximately 6-month period following injury. This publication summarizes the presentation and discussion of the workshop.
When TBIs in Children Become Chronic Health Conditions
This article, published in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, is a product of the Moody Galveston Brain Injury Conference. The article describes how TBI in children might meet the criteria of a chronic health condition. They also explain how identifying a health condition can facilitate improved monitoring and care of children over time. The authors also hosted a webinar in conjunction with the Brain Injury Association of America.
Survivor Webpage - Center on Partner-Inflicted Brain Injury
The Center on Partner-Inflicted Brain Injury within the Ohio Domestic Violence Network has created a new webpage for survivors of domestic or intimate partner violence on how head injuries and strangulation can hurt your brain. The page contains an introductory video, and lists facts and challenges related to brain injury.
Online Brain Injury Screening and Support System
NASHIA’s OBISSS is an online screening system that determines a potential exposure to brain injury in someone’s lifetime and identifies any associated problems that are present. Watch the recording of our informational session and view the slide deck for more information.
NCOA Falls Prevention Awareness Week Toolkit
Falls among older adults continue to be a national public health concern. Join NCOA September 18-22, 2023 for Falls Prevention Awareness Week, a nationwide observance with state coalitions and partners to raise awareness on preventing falls, reducing the risk of falls, and helping older adults live without fear of falling.
Brain Injury – Enhancing Self-Directed Choice and Control
NASHIA, in partnership with Disability Technical Assistance Center (DETAC), has released Brain Injury – Enhancing Self-Directed Choice and Control, a resource on brain injury and employment targeted for Centers for Independent Living (CILs).
A Family Caregiver Guide to Selecting Rehabilitation Programs
This factsheet from the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center Traumatic Brain Injury Model System, A Family Caregiver Guide to Selecting Rehabilitation Programs for Persons With Disorders of Consciousness (DoC), explains the medical and rehabilitation care needs of persons with disorders of consciousness (DoC). It discusses the questions to ask when searching for the right program for your loved one with a DoC.
DRNC TBI Justice Database
Disability Rights North Carolina (DRNC) has initiated the country’s first national database centralizing information on criminal legal system-related brain injury screening and supportive service programs, including pilots, academic studies, and projects from the past 30 years. Users will be able to search for reports about prior and ongoing TBI screening projects across the nation and for all population categories: juvenile justice, adult corrections, specialty courts, probation, and parole.
OSEP Fast Facts on Students with TBI Served Under IDEA, Part B
The Office of Special Education Programs released a new OSEP Fast Facts, which looks at Students Identified with a Traumatic Brain Injury. The document takes a closer look at data from the data collections authorized under IDEA Section 618, including those collected through child count, educational environments, discipline and exiting data collections with a lens on students identified with traumatic brain injury.
CARE Health Advocacy Intervention & Tools
The Ohio State University and the Ohio Domestic Violence Network published these two journal articles in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation on the CARE approach, a framework that offers advocates specific tools and strategies for working with survivors who may have experienced head trauma or brain injury that affect their ability to access services and resources they might need.