TBI Program Awarded Additional $700,000 to Continue Services

In collaboration with the WVU Center for Excellence in Disabilities, Professor Steven Wheeler, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, chairperson of the WVU Division of Occupational Therapy, was recently awarded $700,000 for a project with the WV DHHR Office of Behavioral Health Services entitled: “Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) State Program”. 

The grant supports the continuation of this long-standing program which helps assure all individuals with a traumatic brain injury who are living in the community have access to available services. 

With a team that includes professionals from social work and occupational therapy, the TBI program also documents unmet needs, defined as goods and services that enhance quality of life and are considered best practice, but are not available and/or are not covered or are under-covered by a commercial insurance carrier, Medicare or Medicaid. 

This project will carry out objectives such as, referring at least 400 unduplicated individuals to services that are already established and/or identify services that are not available for the individual; provide screenings and evaluations to individuals with TBI; conduct sessions of training and technical assistance statewide on traumatic brain injury issues to consumers, families, service providers and state agencies to increase their skills and understanding of the effects of traumatic brain injury.

Wheeler described the leadership of Program Manager Miranda Talkington and TBI federal grant principal investigator Amanda Acord-Vira , Ed.D, MOT, OTR/L, CBIS, along with the efforts of the program’s social workers, resource coordinators and outreach professionals as essential to the program’s success. 

For more information on the WV Traumatic Brain Injury program visit http://tbi.cedwvu.org/.