Brain Injury Rehabilitation Improving the Transition Experience

Each year, about 2.8 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the United States, and at least 25 percent of these injuries are classified as moderate to severe. Nearly half of those hospitalized for TBI have long-term disability. Most have psychological, physical, social, or work-related problems, which often become chronic. By talking with patients and family members, we found that returning to daily activities and regaining quality of life are major concerns. Outcomes are affected by the type and severity of the TBI, but the type of treatment someone with TBI receives is also important. What resources are available, whether providers are experienced with the problems associated with TBI, and how much treatment is available can affect outcomes as well. Currently, inpatient rehabilitation professionals are told to give people with TBI information, reassurance, advice, and referral resources. Some promising ways of helping people with TBI include using telephone and other mobile devices to reach patients after they leave the hospital, to regularly assess their individual needs and help them coordinate their health care, and to provide the information and resources that they need. These new strategies may lead to earlier return to activities and improved quality of life. No studies have compared the standard approach to discharge care with an approach that uses telecare to provide information and care coordination after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation for TBI. The main goal of this project is to find out how improving the transition from the hospital to outpatient care can improve the lives of people with moderate to severe TBI and achieve better results that are important to patients with TBI, their families, and healthcare providers. In this study, patients with TBI who are discharged from inpatient rehabilitation at one of six national TBI Model Systems sites (University of Washington, Indiana University, Ohio State University, Mount Sinai Hospital, Moss Rehabilitation, and Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation) will be randomized (like the flip of a coin) to either the standard discharge plan or the standard discharge plan with additional telephone follow up from a TBI care manager for the first 6 months after discharge. The project team will compare patient and caregiver functioning and quality of life at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after hospital discharge in these two groups.