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Marlena M. Wald, MPH, MLS — Sharyl R. Helgeson, RN, BAN, PHN — Jean A. Langlois, ScD, MPH, Brain Injury Professional magazine (page 3 of 4) Page 3 of 4
Example of a successful TBI identification pilot project: The Minnesota experience
The Minnesota TBI Interagency Leadership Council (ILC), a public private partnership of agencies, identified behavioral health and criminal justice as areas for development of state capacity with respect to TBI. Various members, especially the Brain Injury Association of Minnesota (BIA-MN), had been contacted by corrections staff seeking service resource information to assist with planning for individuals with TBI. BIA-MN contacted the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) to pursue DOC's potential interest in TBI training and technical assistance. DOC was receptive and training was conducted for DOC staff and, importantly, the agency joined the TBI-ILC. The TBI-ILC then pursued grant funding for a TBI project in collaboration with the DOC.
As a result of these efforts, in 2006 Minnesota was awarded a State TBI Implementation Partnership Grant which is being conducted as an interagency effort entirely through the Minnesota DOC. The three year project, titled "TBI in MN Correctional Facilities: Strategies for Successful Return to Community," is administered by the federal Department of Health & Human Services, Maternal & Child Health Bureau, Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA). The primary DOC goalsfor this grant include enhancing facility and community safety through identification and effective interventions for offenders with TBI.
The project is currently in the second of three phases. A focus of the initial phase of the project was screening offenders for TBI utilizing the TBIQ. Approximately 1000 adult males, one hundred adult females and fifty juvenile males were screened. (Initial results of those screenings for males are reported in Figure 2). The current phase of the project involves identification of a range of "best practices" interventions that can be used with this population along the continuum of corrections systems and services (i.e., offender management, education, treatment). General information on TBI along with intervention strategies is being broadly disseminated within the DOC through education and training. Development of TBI release planning processes has also begun. In the final phase of the grant, implementation of the TBI identification and intervention strategies will continue along with efforts towards long-term project sustainability.
Conclusion:
TBI among incarcerated populations is an important public health problem. Increased collaboration between traumatic brain injury and criminal justice professionals has the potential to inform more effective management of offenders and increase their potential for successful reintegration into the community. Further research is needed to refine screening methods and develop effective interventions.
About the Authors
Ms. Wald is an epidemiologist with graduate degrees from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and the University of Maryland at College Park. Prior to moving to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, she was the Research Program Director for the Department of Emergency Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine where she managed prospective clinical trials and public health studies, including several TBI projects, in three emergency departments including Atlanta's Level I Trauma Center, Grady Memorial Hospital.
Ms. Helgeson is the Project Director for the Minnesota State TBI Implementation Partnership Grant. Helgeson is a Mental Health Program Consultant for the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS), the lead state agency for State TBI Grants. She has worked with disability services and policy for DHS for almost 30 years and with brain injury services for over 20 years.
Dr. Langlois is the Guest Editor for this issue of the Brain Injury Professional. She is a Senior Epidemiologist with the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA.
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From Brain Injury Professional, The official publication of the North American Brain Injury Association, Vol.5, Issue 1. Copyright 2008. NABIS/HDI Publishers. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.