Wayne State University’s Southeastern Michigan Traumatic Brain Injury System (SEMTBIS) has received a sizable vote of continued confidence. Established in 1987 as one of the first model systems of brain injury care, it was recently awarded a five-year $1.85 million grant to maintain and enhance its objectives and activities, including support of the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) National Data Management Center.
SEMTBIS was created to conduct research, establish a national database, and provide a comprehensive continuum of care and specialized services for people with traumatic brain injuries. In 1993, the program received a supplemental grant to serve as the TBI Model Systems National Database Center. As a symbol of its success and potential, the program recently received renewed funding from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, an agency branch of the United States Department of Education.
The SEMTBIS project director is Mitchell Rosenthal, PhD, and the associate project director is Nancy Mann, MD--both of whom are associate chairs in the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation. A joint project of the Wayne State University department of physical medicine and rehabilitation, the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, and Detroit Receiving Hospital, SEMTBIS searches for the best clinical, scientific and treatment solutions by collecting and analyzing data on patient characteristics, diagnoses, causes of injury, interventions, outcomes, and costs.
"Some of the patients in the database have been tracked for up to eight years, allowing researchers to observe long-term outcomes and patient progress," said Dr. Rosenthal. "A model system of traumatic brain injury rehabilitation incorporates patient care, along with community-based prevention efforts, educational programs and research. SEMTBIS is such a model system in action."
The renewed project has instituted several new goals, which build upon existing projects. For example, SEMTBIS will investigate alternative interventions following inpatient rehabilitation discharge through a multi-center collaborative research project entitled "Post-Acute Service Delivery: Needs, Interventions, Costs and Outcomes." Researchers hope to identify accurate predictors of rehabilitation outcome and to determine the relationship between cost of care, specific treatment interventions, and functional progress.
The program will also identify and evaluate interventions that can improve vocational outcomes and community integration--one of the most challenging aspects of TBI rehabilitation. The proposed local research project, "Evaluation of an Enhanced Community-Based Vocational Training Program Serving Economically Disadvantaged Persons with TBI," includes peer counseling, family counseling, use of the internet and other technologies to enhance the likelihood of successful community integration, including return to work and job retention.
"We are proud of our success with SEMTBIS, which is one of only five TBI model system programs throughout the country," said Dr. Rosenthal. "And we are pleased to continue this successful partnership with the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, Detroit Receiving Hospital, and the Wayne State University departments of emergency medicine, neurology, neurosurgery, and physical medicine/rehabilitation."