Focus on Brain Rehabilitation

As they ease into pool therapy in Galveston, you'd never know two young war veterans were battling serious injuries.  That's only because you can't see the battle raging inside their brain.  That's where the sights and sounds, feelings and flashbacks live.  It's just part of the battle after a traumatic brain injury.  

Sean Carter Hurt In Wreck Involving Alcohol

A man who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a wreck that involved alcohol is making steps toward recovery.

For Michael Pullman, the world was an adventure waiting to be explored.  As an Academic All-American at Emory University in 1993, he held the key to a promising future of opportunity and freedom—until he suffered a traumatic brain injury in an ATV accident at age 20.  Although doctors never thought he’d make it out alive, Pullman emerged from a coma nine months later, no longer able to walk or talk.

Rationale/Problem statement

Due to funding issues, bed availability, etc., some patients referred to TLC for residential Post Acute Brain Injury Rehabilitation (PABIR) services are placed on a waiting list.  While at home, a nursing home, or other non-medical placement, patients can and do deteriorate functionally while waiting for skilled services (i.e., de-conditioning due to inactivity, adoption of maladaptive coping strategies, development of irregular activity schedules, etc.).

The Department of Defense has awarded a consortium of Houston institutions a $33 million grant to investigate mild traumatic brain injury (Mild TBI), or concussion, the potential severity of which has long been underappreciated.