Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic

• Department of Medicine
• Allergy Immunization Clinic
• Cardiology
• Dermatology Clinic
• Endocrinology Clinic
• Gastroenterology Clinic
• Infectious Disease
• Internal Medicine Clinic
• Neurology Clinic
• Pulmonary Services
• Sleep Disorders Clinic
• Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic

Mission and Vision

Mission: The Mission of the CRDAMC Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic is to provide a multidisciplinary team approach for rehabilitation of Active duty, dependents, and retirees experiencing the effects of Traumatic Brain Injury.

Vision: To become a Center of Excellence for Traumatic Brain Injury addressing our patients in a holistic fashion. By incorporating a medical, behavioral health, and rehabilitation team into a Multidisciplinary approach, with a focus on clinical care, education, and research; to maximize the patients' Recovery, Rehabilitation, Reintegration, and Resiliency.

Contact Us

Overview

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI):

A traumatic brain injury is a blow or jolt to the head that disrupts the normal function of the brain. The severity of the TBI is determined at the time of the injury and may be classified as: mild, moderate, or severe.

The Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic provides services, on a referral basis only to all Active Duty Service Members, Adult Family Members and Retirees.

The Traumatic Brain Injury multidisciplinary team consists of nursing, medical providers, nurse case management, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, psychology/social work, and neuropsychology.

TBI Simulation Training Article March 2012 (.pdf file format)

Services

Physician Assistant/Nurse Practitioner:

The TBI Primary Care team at the Ft. Hood TBI clinic is on a mission to provide comprehensive, holistic, high quality individualized medical services to our service members that include, TBI Screening, treatment of symptoms associated with TBI and referrals to other specialties as indicated according to each individual service member's needs.

Speech Therapy:

Speech Therapy provides cognitive rehabilitation services to address: memory, attention, executive functions, receptive and expressive language, as well as speech therapy for stuttering and oral–motor dysfunction. Services may be provided individually or in a group setting.

Physical Therapy:

The treatment focus in TBI Physical Therapy vestibular rehabilitation – working to improve patients' balance and dizziness symptoms. Many high– and low–tech treatment options may be used to assist patients in meeting their treatment and functional goals, based on their individual needs.

Occupational Therapy:

Occupational Therapy focuses on evaluation of occupational performance and implementation of client centered intervention strategies or techniques to address service members' identified deficits. We address soldiers' cognitive, behavioral, psychosocial, vocational, or educational needs to maximize their quality of life and readiness to return to duty or transition to civilian life. Occupational therapy instructs soldiers through use of education, remediation, adaptation, or compensation techniques by use of everyday functional tasks.

Some of the treatment tools available for use include individualized treatment or functional occupational groups such as stress management, leisure, and cooking group. Occupational therapy services also have access to a driving simulator for use to help service members overcome some difficulties with driving. Occupational therapy services at the TBI clinic also implemented a return to duty program called Warrior Readiness Assessment Program (WRAP) to assess the readiness of soldiers to be discharged from the clinic and return to duty with their unit.

Neuropsychology Services:

The Neuropsychology Service at the TBI Clinic interfaces with all aspects of the TBI program, to include individual and group counseling, specialized testing, and rehabilitation programming. We provide comprehensive assessments of an individual's cognitive function. The evaluation uses a series of psychometric tests to examine brain–behavior relationships including concentration, memory, reasoning and auditory and visual processing. Test findings are interpreted within the context of the person's emotional functioning and current level of adjustment. Neuropsychological evaluation is helpful for assisting with administrative issues such as the determinations of Medical Boards, multidisciplinary treatment planning as well as with monitoring an individual's process through the course of treatment.

Psychology / Social Work:

The psychology and social work services at the TBI clinic interface with the various clinic sub–specialties and provide a range of treatment modalities including individual, couples, family, and group psychotherapy. Therapists consult with members of the multi–disciplinary team to help determine if behavioral health issues are adversely impacting the Service Members care while at the clinic. Treatment focuses on providing a safe and supportive environment for the Service Member to learn new skills for affective and behavioral regulation, adjust to the impact of TBI and coexisting anxiety and mood disorders, and gain a sense of mastery over their experiences.

Nurse Case Management:

The nurse case managers (NCM) provide oversight of the complete medical management of select patients enrolled to the TBI clinic. This includes independent initial interviews, on–going appointments with patients, information gathering, and tracking via spread sheet and other documents. The NCM's conduct extensive record review as it relates to routine patient care and for any problematic review needs. The nurse case managers also network with any necessary entities on and off post for services for the TBI patient. The NCM assist in obtaining timely services for our patients at other facilities/resources, they investigate any concerns/issues presented by the TBI providers, patient, or assigned unit (WTB) as they occur. The nurse case managers are a bridge for communication between our providers and those in the civilian community. While they focus on education of the patient, the case manager also engages in tasks required to provide for continuity of care and follow–on care, be it at Ft. Hood or any other location. The nurse case manager also coordinates and directs the weekly multi–disciplinary patient care meeting.

Useful Links:

• Defense & Veterans Brain Injury Center
• Brain Injury Association of America