New Traumatic Brain Injury Pilot Program May Help America’s War Veterans
September 09, 2012
Even though the casualty rates in Afghanistan and Iraq appear to be lower than in other conflict areas, veterans are returning home with serious complications.
Since the realization that repetitive traumatic brain injury (TBI) often results in life-long cognitive issues, government researchers and those working for academia have been working to determine how to manage the effects of traumatic brain injury and discover new ways to treat it.
Many veterans are coming home with life-altering injuries, caused by multiple concussions sustained in the battle field from improvised explosive devices. The number of service personnel with head injuries is approaching epidemic proportions.
The latest new program on the horizon designed to help veterans and others with TBI involves using Telehealth to manage symptoms of a mild concussion. Telehealth delivers health-related services and information via telecommunications technologies. In its present incarnation, the program is aimed at figuring out how successful brain injury patients are with their self care. The new program is being piloted in five veteran’s health care facilities. If it turns out to be successful, the technology may be offered to civilian health care professionals.
To participate in the program, patients answer a short set of questions on an iPad, and their answers are filtered through another computer program that compares patient responses against a more extensive list of questions. The results provide physicians with detailed data about a patient’s symptoms, which in turn allows them to offer better suggestions to help patients manage their brain injuries.
Programs such as this are crucial for veterans to get access to the help they need when they return home. However, many veterans suffering from TBI are not aware of these programs or do not know how to pay for it. This is one of the reasons they should discuss their concerns with an experienced veteran’s lawyer. The attorney knows how to connect the veteran with medical health professionals who are able to offer them cutting edge treatments to manage their TBI.
Veterans are not alone. There are many programs available to assist them in integrating back into the lives they led before going to war, and one of those is the new Telehealth TBI initiative. For every veteran this program helps, there are hundreds of others who could benefit from it as well. It may take time for the word to spread, but once it does, hundreds of veterans will have access to what they need to get their lives back together.
To learn more or to contact a Veterans disability lawyer, Veterans disability attorney, Veterans lawyer, or Veterans attorney call 1.800.693.4800 or visit Legalhelpforveterans.com