Telerehabilitation for OIF/OEF Returnees with Combat-Related Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

The telerehabilitation for OEF/OIF returnees with mild or moderate combat related Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) has as its objectives 1) care coordination for wounded veterans using distance technology via the internet and 2) monitoring of physical and mental health outcomes using a variety of instruments. To date we have enrolled 75 veterans and are actively following 48 in the study. We have collected baseline, 6, 12 and 18 month health status data on most veterans. Our findings indicate that 1) Functional capabilities measured by locomotion and mobility appear to have stabilized among our cohort of veterans while deficiencies in cognition (memory, problem solving), psychosocial adjustment (anger, emotional status) and problems in integrating into society pose challenges 2) Those with comorbid PTSD appear to display more erratic rehabilitation trajectories in cognition improvement and ultimate integration into society as compared to those without the diagnosis 3) Individualized treatment pathways are needed for rehabilitation and ultimate integration into society and 4) Veterans have expressed appreciation for the program.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2013
Accession Number
ADA607950

Entities

People

  • Kris Siddharthan

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Afghanistan Conflict
  • Anxiety Disorders
  • Assistive Technologies
  • Brain Injuries
  • Cognition
  • Decision Support Systems
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Health Care
  • Health Services
  • Hospitals
  • Information Systems
  • Iraqi-War
  • Medical Personnel
  • Mental Health
  • Mobility
  • Rehabilitation
  • Traumatic Stress Disorder

Readers

  • Gulf War Illness and Chronic Multisymptom Illness in Veterans.
  • Neurotrauma and Rehabilitation Medicine.
  • Systems Analysis and Design