Brain Waves: UAB Traumatic Brain Injury Model System Newsletter Volume 16 | Number 1

VOL 16 | NUM 1 2018 BrainWaves UAB Traumatic Brain Injury Model System Digital Newsletter Headline News The University of Alabama at Birmingham Traumatic Brain Injury Model System (UAB-TBIMS) provides Brain Waves twice annually as an informational resource for people with traumatic brain injury (TBI). UAB-TBIMS Program Director: Thomas Novack, PhD Brain Waves Editor: Phil Klebine, MA 529 Spain Rehabilitation Center 1717 6th Avenue South Birmingham, AL 35233-7330 Phone: [phone] TDD: 205-934-4642 Fax: [phone] WWW.UAB.EDU/TBI [email protected] /UABTBIMS /UABTBIMS /UABTBIMS The contents of this publication were developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90DPTB0015). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this publication do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. ©2018 University of Alabama Board of Trustees. The University of Alabama at Birmingham provides equal opportunity in education and employment. Are you looking for tools to develop a workplace more inclusive of people with disabilities? Consider downloading the new, FREE Mobile Accommodation Solution (MAS) App from the Job Accommodation Network. The MAS app serves as a first-generation mobile case management tool to help employers, service providers, and individuals effectively address accommodation requests in the workplace. The app will support talent management, human resources, and/or accommodation staff to create inclusive workplaces by facilitating the process of accommodating applicants, candidates, and employees. The app will also support service providers to help people with disabilities better manage the accommodation process. The app will also enable people with disabilities to develop an accommodation request letter, send the request, and track the progress of the request. Read more In a recent study by the Southeastern Michigan Traumatic Brain Injury System Center, researchers looked at factors that might relate to long- term outcomes after TBI. They wanted to find out whether or not people with a history of psychiatric disabilities or incarceration before their TBI experienced more long-term problems than people without such histories. They also wanted to find out whether or not the severity of the TBI, age at injury, and pre-injury education levels were linked with the severity of long-term problems. The finding suggest that, when compared persons without a history of psychiatric disabilities or incarceration, those who have a history of psychiatric disabilities or incarceration before their injury have more problems with cognition and needed more help with personal care tasks. They’re also less involved in work, school, and related activities after their injury. When compared to persons who are younger when injured, persons who are older when injured are less involved in work, school and related activities, regardless of the severity of injury. Persons who have a more formal education reported more problems with cognition than persons with less formal education. Read more In a recent study by the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Interventions for Children and Youth with TBI, researchers wanted to know how well a express version of an internet-based parent training program with video coaching, called Internet-based Interacting Together Everyday: Recovery After Childhood TBI (I-InTERACT), would work when compared with the full-length I-InTERACT and the online resources alone. They also wanted to find out whether improvements in parenting skills would link to improvements in children’s behaviors. The researchers found that the parents in both the full-length and express training programs improved their positive parenting behavior more than the parents in the Internet Resources group during and at the end of the program. Also, parents’ ratings of their children’s behavior improved for the express I-InTERACT group overall, and for children with the most severe behavior problems in the full-length I-InTERACT group. Read more