(Online Course) The Fundamentals of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

90 minutes

Duration

The goal of this workshop is to provide an introduction to Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), including mechanisms of TBI as well as signs, symptoms, severity levels, and rates of TBI in civilian and military populations. Recommendations for assessing, managing, and treating TBI will be reviewed. The overlap between TBI and PTSD will be discussed and the importance of care coordination strategies, resources, and services available to patients with TBI and their families will be reviewed. This course is intended for mental health providers who are interested in gaining competency in working with individuals (military or civilian) who have sustained a TBI.

Outline

  1. Introduction

  2. TBI basics

a)      What is a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)?

b)      Severity classification

c)      Epidemiology of TBI

d)      What causes TBI/concussion?

e)      Mechanisms of injury

f)       Closed vs. penetrating TBI

3.      Combat related TBI

a)      Impact of modern warfare

b)      Incidence of TBI in military population

c)      Blast injuries

4.      Manifestations of TBI

a)      Temporal course of symptoms

b)      Post-concussive symptoms

c)      Post-concussive Syndrome (PCS)

5.      TBI Evaluation

a)      Assessing TBI

b)      Physical exam and history

c)      Neurological imaging

d)      Neuropsychological testing

6.      Symptom overlap and differential diagnosis

a)      TBI and PTSD

b)      Differential diagnosis and co-morbid disorders

7.      Recovery and Treatment

a)      TBI recovery-concussion/mTBI

b)      TBI recovery- moderate/severe

c)      Treatment

d)      Patient education

e)      Symptom management

f)       Treatment for moderate-severe TBI

g)      Community integration and long term recovery

h)      PTSD treatment w/TBI

i)        Factors impacting recovery for PTSD and TBI

Learning Objectives

  1. To identify signs, symptoms, severity levels and types of TBI as well as rule-outs for disorders with symptom overlap.

  2. To recognize neuropsychological screenings and tests for TBI and describe treatment options based on severity.

  3. To learn about care coordination strategies and available resources for TBI patients and their families.

Notes

*Continuing education credits are available for this course. Fees may apply.