View Larger Image TBI State Partnership workshops like this one in Batesville are being done with assistance from the TBI Advisory Board Workgroup, comprised of representatives from many agencies and organizations and those living with brain injuries.
TBI State Partnership workshops like this one in Batesville are being done with assistance from the TBI Advisory Board Workgroup, comprised of representatives from many agencies and organizations and those living with brain injuries.

Traumatic Brain Injury Program Seeks Input Through Online Survey, Workshops

By Ben Boulden

| To gather public input from brain injury survivors and better provide for their needs, the Traumatic Brain Injury State Partnership Program is reaching out  through an online needs assessment survey and a series of regional workshops.

The program is supported by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Institute for Digital Health & Innovation through a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living, and a matching grant from the Arkansas Department of Health.

Information gathered through the survey, and the workshops will be reviewed for inclusion in the Arkansas State Plan for Traumatic Brain Injury. There is no closing date to provide information for the plan. Online needs assessments are available on the program’s website at:  TBI State Partnership Program.

The workshops are being done with assistance from the TBI Advisory Board Workgroup, comprised of representatives from many agencies and organizations and those living with brain injuries. The TBI Advisory Board Workgroup meetings are open to the public. The next meeting will be held on Nov. 12.

So far, regional events have been held in Batesville and Springdale. Program director Terri Imus, B.S.N., said that over the next year, additional workshops are planned across the state to allow face-to-face engagement with more of the traumatic brain injury survivor community. Additional support resources, such as a program to document the life experiences of those living with brain injuries and an online support group, are being developed.

The regional events include networking opportunities, education, telemedicine demonstration, and resources, including Smart 9-1-1, service dogs, and life experiences shared by people living with brain injuries.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute and Institute for Digital Health & Innovation. It is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 2,727 students, 870 medical residents and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.