Webinar - Recognising and managing mild TBIs in the CommunityDescriptionThis 60-minute webinar was brought to you by Dr. Alice Theadom on September 2021.
Synopsis of session: People can present to a range of health care services following a concussion or mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). As there is currently no standardised way of assessing a mild TBI, the care and advice people receive following injury can be highly variable. This is an issue as just under a half of people experiencing these injuries go on to experience persistent symptoms that can affect their ability to function in everyday life. There is also now consistent evidence of early risk factors that can be used to identify those at risk of longer-term difficulties and that early multidisciplinary treatment can improve outcomes. Consequently, we have the opportunity to reduce the long-term impacts of these injuries by facilitating equitable, early access to treatment for those at risk.
Over the last few years, a working group has been developing a brief, Brain Injury Screening and assessment Tool (BIST) to be used by any health professional on first medical presentation following injury. The tool helps clinicians to identify those at low, medium or high risk of longer-term difficulties and provides support with health care pathway decision making (e.g. who to refer to rehabilitation services). The tool has demonstrated good psychometric properties and has proven feasible to administer within busy clinical environments. The symptom scale and impact item can be used as a repeated measure to monitor the recovery journey from beginning to end.
Learning objectives:
1. Understand the predictors of longer-term recovery from mild TBI (concussion)
2. Know about a new brief tool that can assist with the initial assessment, health care pathway decision making, and measuring recovery.
3. Discuss the feasibility of using a brief screening tool within different clinical contexts.
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