VA Secretary Addresses Traumatic Brain Injury Conference

WASHINGTON – Recognizing the longstanding, integrated collaboration shared by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense, VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki gave the keynote address Monday at the fourth annual Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Military Training Conference here.

 “We–DoD and VA–simply cannot afford to be less than aggressive in our effort to identify, treat and rehabilitate TBI victims,” Shinseki told the approximately 1,000 military, VA and civilian health care workers at the conference sponsored by the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC).

 The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center was established by Congress in 1992. DoD and VA together offer clinical care, research and education on traumatic brain injury. DVBIC is the operational component of the Defense Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.  

In praise of the collaborative DVBIC model, Secretary Shinseki said it should be replicated for all military personnel transitioning to VA care, and not just for TBI or burn care.  

 “When it comes to DoD’s patients, there is a network of information and hands-on human care,” the Secretary said, “that helps a wounded warrior transition from one system to the other– from the battlefield to our polytrauma centers.” 

There are DVBIC researchers assigned at each of the four VA Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers (Tampa, Richmond, Minneapolis and Palo Alto) where they gather information regarding care of patients with TBI, analyze and translate this information into recommendations to improve care, and educate providers in implementing those improvements clinically.

DVBIC and VA have shared, and continue to collaborate, on many significant initiatives.  Recent examples include developing and implementing:

·         Joint DoD/VA clinical practice guidelines for TBI;

·         Materials and information for families and caregivers of Veterans with TBI;

·         Integrated education and training curriculum, and joint training on TBI of VA and DoD heath care providers;

·         A Congressionally-mandated 5-year pilot program to assess the effectiveness of providing assisted living services to Veterans with TBI;

·         The TBI Screening tool used for all Veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan and are receiving care within VA; and

·         A specialized Emerging Consciousness Care program at the four polytrauma centers to serve those Veterans with severe TBI who are also slow to recover consciousness.

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