Your Weekly Dose of #5ThoughtsFriday: A description of what we think is important at BIAMD
   #5ThoughtsFriday
 Edition
09/20/2019
#5ThoughtsFriday is Powered By :
presented by
5k and 1 Mile Walk

WHEN:
Sunday, October 13th, 2019
From 9:00am - Noon

WHERE:
UMBC -Catonsville Campus
1000 Hilltop Circle
Catonsville, MD US 21250  

ALL NEW SWAG!
ALL NEW FUN!
Here are the 5 things we thought were
worth sharing with you this week:
Photo by  Scott Webb  on  Unsplash
Earlier studies have shown that children diagnosed or prediagnosed with ADHD are more likely to have suffered from injuries including TBI, fractures, or burns ( 21 , 22 ). In this study, we evaluated the relationship between TBI and ADHD through sensitivity analysis to compare the ADHD risk in children receiving index treatment for fractures but not TBI.

We conducted a retrospective, population-based cohort study by using a nationwide population-based data set to examine the long-term ADHD risk in children after TBI or fractures. Furthermore, we predicted the cause-specific risk of post-TBI ADHD among different TBI patterns on the basis of clinical characteristics.

The findings may facilitate developing an integrated healthcare strategy for children with TBI.

CLICK HERE to check out the results.

CLICK HERE for a PDF of the article.

SAVE THE DATE
March 26-27, 2020

2020 BIAMD ANNUAL CONFERENCE

THIS YEAR in a
NEW LOCATION
for the first time
in 8 years

SAME great CONFERENCE in an all new place and all new space. Save the date today and watch #5Thoughts for more information as it becomes available.

If you would like to present with us next year, please fill out the online Call for Presentations Application by

Photo by  Isaac Davis  on  Unsplash
On the morning of September 11, 2001, at their home in Los Angeles, Sylvia Mackey and her husband, John, woke up to the news that terrorists had hijacked multiple American passenger jets, crashing two into the World Trade Center and a third into The Pentagon. Given the West Coast time difference, they spent those first hours in shock, watching the collapse of the twin towers over and over on television. Those horrific images, and that day, remain indelible for Sylvia Mackey 18 years later, though not exactly for the reason it does for the rest of the country. A flight attendant herself, she happened to have the day off and a dentist’s visit scheduled.

Eventually, the couple pulled away from the TV and drove together to her appointment. Turning on the car radio, they listened to journalists continuing to report on the morning’s heinous attacks. John, however, suddenly had no recollection of the events they were talking about.

That was the moment Sylvia Mackey knew something was frighteningly wrong with her then 59-year-old husband, the legendary tight end for the Baltimore Colts whose 75-yard, second-quarter touchdown had made him one of the heroes of Super Bowl V. College sweethearts since their days at Syracuse University, they married six months after the Colts made John their No. 2 pick in the 1963 NFL draft. “Thirty minutes before, we’d been watching everything on television,” she recalls. “Now, he was asking questions and acting as if he’d just heard about it for the first time. ‘When did that happen? Did that happen today?’ How do you forget something like that so fast? I was alarmed, to say the least. In hindsight, I’d been in denial. There were signs with John going back for years.”

CLICK HERE NOW - To Read More about the Colts of the past and the future of football.
Photo by  Duy Pham  on  Unsplash
For the last year and a half, BIAMD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, and University of Maryland School of Medicine have been working on a project entitled "Patient Centered Research on TBI Psychiatric Problems". What follows is the abstract from that project.
The overarching goal of our project funded by the patient centered outcomes research institute (PCORI) was to establish a diverse group of TBI stakeholders and engage them in focus group discussions to:

  • (1) determine catalysts and challenges in the management of neuropsychiatric symptoms after TBI,
  • (2) identify various strategies for engaging TBI stakeholders in future research projects and creating a PCOR network
  • (3) list important TBI neuropsychiatry research topics, and
  • (4) determine important policy changes related to neuropsychiatric symptoms after TBI.

A diverse group of thirty TBI stakeholders including persons with TBI, caregivers, coordinators, and clinicians were engaged in five focus group discussions. Each focus group lasted for three hours with intermittent breaks.

Discussions focused on the following domains:
  • (a) success and challenges stakeholders have experienced in the care and management of neuropsychiatric symptoms after TBI;
  • (b) strategies to maintain the TBI-PCOR network;
  • (c) topics that stakeholders would like researchers to address relating to neuropsychiatric symptoms following TBI; and (d) health care policy changes they would like administrators to implement to improve quality of life after TBI.

To summarize each focus group, the project leader also conducted an in-depth interview with a volunteer from the group on the same day the focus group was conducted. All discussions were audio recorded. All data collected from the discussions were subsequently de-identified. Qualitative analysis was conducted both manually and using Dedoose Software by identifying and coding general themes.

Participants identified embarrassment and stigma associated with experiencing neuropsychiatric symptoms and inadequate insurance coverage for management of these symptoms as barriers for recovery.

Catalysts or facilitators included:
  • education on neuropsychiatric symptoms following TBI in the acute trauma period,
  • provision of literature and resources on TBI mental health at discharge from emergency rooms and acute cate trauma units, and
  • providing a comprehensive Do’s and Don’ts caregiver plan to caregivers of persons with TBI.

Best strategies for engaging and continuing to maintain a brain injury PCOR network included:
  • working on a project with clear goals/mission,
  • having regular meetings and
  • providing continued education on TBI neuropsychiatric symptoms to network members.

The three common research topics identified by participants included:
  • relationship between TBI and aging,
  • determinants of positive outcomes after TBI, and
  • relationship between addiction and TBI. 

The three important policy changes included:
  • making TBI mental health education accessible to all stakeholders,
  • providing incentives for clinicians involved in care of persons with TBI and
  • improving affordability and accessibility of TBI neuropsychiatric care. 

We have used this project as a platform to engage TBI stakeholders in discussions on a variety of topics on TBI neuropsychiatry. We plan to use the results from this study to develop other projects meaningful to our participants and the larger TBI community.

In future, we also hope to continue to engage our participants as partners in other research projects. 


CLICK HERE to see the Infographic on TBI.

CLICK HERE to see the Infographic on Policy Changes.

CLICK HERE to see the Infographic on Research Topics.

CLICK HERE to see the Infographic on Maintaining the Group.

CLICK HERE to provide YOUR feedback on the project.
What We are Reading We Think
You Might FInd Interesting
A pioneering neuroscientist argues that we are more than our brains

To many, the brain is the seat of personal identity and autonomy. But the way we talk about the brain is often rooted more in mystical conceptions of the soul than in scientific fact. This blinds us to the physical realities of mental function. We ignore bodily influences on our psychology, from chemicals in the blood to bacteria in the gut, and overlook the ways that the environment affects our behavior, via factors varying from subconscious sights and sounds to the weather. As a result, we alternately overestimate our capacity for free will or equate brains to inorganic machines like computers.

But a brain is neither a soul nor an electrical network: it is a bodily organ, and it cannot be separated from its surroundings. Our selves aren't just inside our heads--they're spread throughout our bodies and beyond. Only once we come to terms with this can we grasp the true nature of our humanity.

CLICK HERE to read an MIT Researcher's thoughts.
5) Quote We Are Contemplating...

  • "At the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy, and your eyes sparkling."
  • Shanti

Stay Safe.
HAVE A TERRIFIC WEEKEND. 
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Got a story we need to follow or share? Send it to info@biamd.org .  

  Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful weekend.