Craig Hospital

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 10, 2024 -- Chronic pain impacts approximately 60 percent of survivors of moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), according to a study published in the January/February issue of The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation . Cynthia Harrison-Felix, Ph.D., from Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado, and colleagues estimated the prevalence of chronic pain after TBI and identified factors associated with chronic pain. The analysis included 3,804 participants who had been hospitalized with moderate-to-severe TBI. The researchers found that 46 percent of participants reported current chronic pain, while 14 percent reported past (postinjury) chronic pain. There was little clinical difference in sociodemographic and injury characteristics between those reporting current, past, or no chronic pain. However, individuals with current chronic pain had worse functional outcomes versus individuals in the past pain or no pain groups. Current chronic pain was also associated with higher treatment utilization rates versus past pain. "The implications of chronic pain for functional outcomes support inclusion of pain metrics in prognostic models and observational studies in this population," the authors write. "Future research is needed to proactively identify those at risk for the development of chronic pain and determine the efficacy and access to pain treatment." Abstract/Full Text Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions. Posted January 2024 More news resources FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts Daily MedNews News for Health Professionals New Drug Approvals New Drug Applications Drug Shortages Clinical Trial Results Generic Drug Approvals Subscribe to our newsletter Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.

$3.2 million will enhance rehabilitation for people with brain injuries, contribute to the field ENGLEWOOD, Colo., June 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Anonymous gifts totaling $3,180,000 to the Craig Hospital Foundation will support Craig's industry-leading work applying the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis to challenging behaviors following brain injury. Damage to certain areas of the brain can result in repetitive, threatening, or aggressive behaviors or disinhibition, lack of empathy, or apathy. Family members, employers, and friends often consider these neurobehavioral issues to be the most problematic outcome of a loved one's brain injury. In addition to being upsetting to families, these behaviors can be difficult to manage and can result in staff injuries and increased costs due to workers' compensation claims and the expense of intensive monitoring. While behavior analysis services are often prescribed for people with developmental disabilities, such as autism, it has seldom been used and is not funded by insurance companies to treat challenging behaviors resulting from brain injury. In 2020, Craig Hospital formally launched the groundbreaking Neurobehavioral Program. Led by Director of Psychology Dr. Toby Huston and Board-Certified Behavior Analyst Arielle Reindeau, MS, BCBA, CBIS, the program serves patients and families with hands-on, evidence-based behavior management plans to decrease challenging behaviors and increase adaptive behaviors. This support allows patients to fully participate in their rehabilitation program and optimize their recovery. Board Certified Behavior Analysts write individualized patient behavior plans and serve as reliable resources for care team members. These analysts also offer specialized training to Craig clinicians to give them the skills to properly define, intervene, and track changes in behavior. "The Neurobehavioral Program provides patients with individualized plans and data to assist the interdisciplinary team and families in meeting behavioral needs," explains Reindeau. "Patients, staff, and families are given tools and skills to assist in promoting adaptive behaviors and managing challenging behaviors in the inpatient setting. Each individual plan is written by the interdisciplinary team with the oversight of a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). These plans assist with the creation of safe environments, the use of procedural learning, and the safe management of dangerous behaviors. Patients and families also meet with BCBAs prior to discharge to help create tools for their next setting. The goal is to meet each patient and their support systems where they currently are in their recovery, while providing compassionate and dignified care." Adds a Craig Hospital donor, "Can you imagine bringing home someone you love who, due to an accident, has become aggressive or even violent, and there is no plan for how you are to manage this? It seems that this is a perfect opportunity for philanthropy to step in to help by providing some amazing people at Craig Hospital the ability to address this previously overlooked, but critical, aspect of neurorehabilitation." The $3M+ donation from donors will allow Craig to increase the number of trained behavior specialists to provide behavioral services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and expand these services into the outpatient setting. The gift will also fund additional training so that all individuals involved in a patient's care can learn the principles and interventions of Applied Behavior Analysis. In addition, the Neurobehavioral Team will collect data, conduct research and publish and present their findings to enhance knowledge and understanding in other brain injury settings. "There is a better way to manage behaviors in rehabilitation settings and a better way to improve outcomes for our patients and families," explains Dr. Eric Spier, medical director of the brain injury program at Craig. "By utilizing Applied Behavior Analysis, we can speak the same language, manage behaviors consistently, and work towards mutual goals. We are very grateful to our donors because these gifts allow us to put this crucial tool into the hands of the many individuals who will pass through Craig's halls." About Craig Hospital Craig Hospital is a world-renowned neurorehabilitation hospital and research center specializing in the care of people who have sustained a spinal cord and/or a brain injury. Located in Englewood, Colo., Craig Hospital is a 93-bed, private, not-for-profit care facility providing a comprehensive system of inpatient and outpatient medical care, rehabilitation, neurosurgical rehabilitative care, and long-term follow-up services. Half of Craig's patients come from outside of Colorado. Craig has been ranked as a Best Hospital for Rehabilitation by U.S. News & World Report for 33 consecutive years. Craig received the NDNQI Award for Outstanding Nursing Quality® in 2009, 2012 through 2015, 2020, and 2022 for the highest quality outcomes in nursing care in a rehabilitation facility. Craig also received its 4th recognition for excellence in nursing from the American Nurses Credential Center (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program® in 2020, ensuring Magnet designation until the year 2025. Craig was voted by employees as a "Top Workplace" by the Denver Post in 2012 through 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022, was ranked in the top 150 places to work in healthcare by Becker's Healthcare in 2014, and was named a 2021 Top Workplace USA by Energage. For more information, visit craighospital.org. About The Craig Hospital Foundation As one of the only stand-alone, not-for-profit hospitals in Colorado, Craig Hospital relies on donor support to provide cutting-edge, holistic care. The Craig Hospital Foundation is an independent 501 (c)(3) that exists solely to support the hospital, its programs, and its patients. Operating in accordance with the philosophy of Craig Hospital, the Foundation builds lifelong relationships with contributors, raises funds, and dedicates its resources to further advance the needs of Craig Hospital and those it serves. Guided by a dedicated and civic-minded board of directors, the Craig Hospital Foundation offers members of the community many meaningful ways to support the hospital's work in helping people rebuild their lives. craighospital.org/foundation. SOURCE The Craig Hospital Foundation

ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- David Ortiz was never afraid of a challenge. He was an avid outdoorsman before he joined the Army and became a Kiowa helicopter pilot in the 82nd Airborne Division's Combat Aviation Brigade. In Eastern Afghanistan, Kiowa pilots took a lot of risk to protect the guys on the ground, and, in February 2012, David suffered a hard landing that destroyed his aircraft, broke his legs, and inflicted extreme trauma on his spine, throat, and lungs. David's memories are spotty from just before the crash until he arrived at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, however he does remember another pilot, a fellow Texan, pulling him from the crash. "So, you know, it was intense. When you go from being a hard-charging, over-achieving aviator with the 82nd to not being able to sit up on your own, that's a bad day. That's a game changer. So, if it wasn't for the community that rallied around me, I don't think I would have made it." That community largely centered on other patients in the hospital and Fisher House at Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. In an amazing coincidence, one of the other residents at the Fisher House was a soldier that David had guarded from the air on the day the other soldier was injured in an ambush. "I remember pulling security that day," he said. "I know exactly what ambush it was, you know, in Khost, [Afghanistan] specifically. We were just chatting and realized we were on the exact same deployment, working out of [Forward Operating Base] Salerno, so it was an intense, small-world-type moment." David's rehabilitation needs were long, and some of his injuries will likely never heal. He's very open that he had days where he felt despondent, but that soldier and others who were injured before David helped show the way to recovery. "To have a community that [we] can lean on and depend on and share that burden is huge," he said. David's rehabilitation took him from Texas to Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado. Craig Hospital specializes in rehabilitation from spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury. The specialists there helped get David walking. "They were able to use orthotics to get me on my feet and they lock out at the knee and ankle." But Craig Hospital didn't stop there. That area of Colorado has a large number of adaptive sports specialists, and David says that staff and therapists started asking him, "'Did you know you can downhill ski, you can cross country ski, you can mountain bike, you can camp?'" "I was an active guy before I got hurt. I wanted to stay active. I knew Colorado was my future." David soon changed his medical retirement plan to Colorado and left active duty. Now, he lives in Colorado and pays forward the assistance he received from Fisher House and other nonprofits. He serves at veteran service organizations like Veterans of Foreign Wars and Adaptive Adventures. In his role at the VFW, he helps lobby for nonpartisan and bipartisan legislation designed to help veterans in Colorado. Some of his biggest accomplishments were getting veteran treatment courts in place to help PTSD sufferers as well as a bill that gives more college credit to veterans in Colorado public colleges for military training and experience. He's currently promoting additional legislation to help veterans that he says can be summed up as bills that "facilitate and empower service members transitioning to civilian life." Fisher House Foundation is best known for its network of 94 comfort homes where military and veteran families can stay at no cost while a loved one is receiving treatment.  These homes are located at major military and VA medical centers nationwide, and in Europe, close to the medical center or hospital they serve. Fisher Houses have up to 21 suites, with private bedrooms and baths.  Families share a common kitchen, laundry facilities, a warm dining room and an inviting living room.  Fisher House Foundation ensures that there is never a lodging fee.  Since inception, the program has saved military and veteran families an estimated $547 million in out-of-pocket costs for lodging and transportation.   Fisher House Foundation also operates the Hero Miles Program, using donated frequent flyer miles to bring family members to the bedside of injured service members as well as the Hotels for Heroes program using donated hotel points to allow family members to stay at hotels near medical centers without charge.  The Foundation also manages an awards program recognizing programs that support military and veteran communities and scholarship funds for military children, spouses, and children of fallen and disabled veterans.  For more information about Fisher House Foundation, please go to . SOURCE Fisher House Foundation