%0 Journal Article
%T Working with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Voices from the Field
%A Page Walker Buck
%A Rebecca G. Laster
%A Jocelyn Spencer Sagrati
%A Rachel Shapiro Kirzner
%J Rehabilitation Research and Practice
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/625621
%X Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), also known as concussion, is an emerging public health issue in the United States. The estimated annual 1.2 million individuals who sustain this injury face a range of cognitive, psychological, and physical consequences for which rehabilitation protocols are being developed and implemented. On the frontlines of this developing area of rehabilitation work are professionals in a range of therapeutic settings whose practice wisdom has yet to be shared in the professional literature. This qualitative study aimed to fill this gap by exploring the experiences and insights of rehabilitation professionals serving mTBI patients in outpatient, civilian settings. An analysis of the qualitative data revealed five themes common in mTBI work, providing an in-depth look at this often challenging field of rehabilitation. 1. Introduction In recent years, mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) has emerged as a leading public health concern. Eighty-five percent of the 1.5 million traumatic brain injuries sustained by Americans every year are considered ¡°mild¡± [1]. Mild traumatic brain injury, commonly known as concussion, is a serious neurologic condition that can have long-term cognitive, physical, emotional, and social consequences. Once believed to be a virtual rite of passage in childhood and sports, concussions are now largely understood by medical professionals to be a traumatic form of brain injury that requires careful diagnosis, management, and followup [2]. A traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs when the brain experiences neurological or neuropsychological impairment as a result of an external trauma. This typically occurs when the head comes into direct contact with an object in situations commonly understood as ¡°hitting your head¡± or ¡°being hit in the head,¡± such as car accidents, contact sports, or domestic violence assaults. A TBI can also occur during the rapid acceleration or deceleration associated with whiplash in which movement of the brain against the inside of the skull causes trauma [3]. Perhaps the least understood mechanism by which a mild TBI can occur is a blast injury, typical in modern military combat and other conflicts. Even without blunt force or acceleration/deceleration, trauma to the brain can arise from the sheer energy of the supersonic waves created from blasts. Blast injuries are so prevalent among service members and veterans that mTBI has been named the ¡°signature injury¡± of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan [4]. A diagnosis of traumatic brain injury requires a classification of severe, moderate,
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/rerp/2012/625621/