Sponsored Research Office

Project Director:

Dr. Ann Glang - glanga@wou.edu - 541-346-0594

Contact Phone:

541-346-0593

Email:

thomasc@wou.edu

Website:

http://www.cbirt.org/

Funding Source:

US Department of Education - National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research

Project Description:

The Center on Interventions for Children and Youth with TBI is dedicated to supporting and advancing research of interventions to improve the long-term outcomes of children and youth post-TBI. The Center's work-scope represents both the first comprehensive effort to establish the efficacy of a number of promising interventions and tools for this population, and the first attempt to address interventions for children and youth with TBI within a coordinated context of development, training, technical assistance, and dissemination.

The Center includes: (a) randomized clinical trials to evaluate specific interventions to improve cognitive, behavioral and psychosocial outcomes with a range of children and youth with TBI; (b) study practical interventions to assist "everyday" people to address problems in natural contexts; (c) develop tools to assess needs and improve outcomes for children and youth with TBI; (d) ensure those tools reach their intended audiences - families, educators and service providers who support these children throughout their lifespan; and (e) provide training, technical assistance, and dissemination of information nationally to the full spectrum of stakeholders in the field of childhood TBI. The Center will also identify a reliable and valid measurement battery to assess functional improvements arising from TBI interventions and initiate a national, shared database of TBI outcomes data.

Specific activities for 2009-2010 include:

• Conduct two randomized control trials: (a) Teen Online Problem Solving (TOPS) - evaluate the efficacy of two different models of problem-solving and skill building for teens age 11-16 with moderate to severe TBI; and (b) Internet based Interacting Everyday Recovery After Childhood TBI (I-InTERACT) - evaluate positive parenting skills training for parents of young children with TBI.
• Develop and pilot Attention Intervention and Management (AIM) program - an attention training and metacognitive skills intervention to remediate attention problems and improve executive function skills in school-age children with attentional impairments following TBI.
• Measurement evaluation strand - identify a set of reliable and valid tests to assess functional improvements arising from TBI interventions and initiate a national, shared database of TBI outcomes data.
• Evaluate current state of TBI curricula across universities and textbooks in both education and special educations.
• Evaluate the depth and breath of TBI within journals most frequently read by educators and special educators.
• Develop and pilot a knowledge and self-efficacy measurement tool for pre-service and in-service educators and special educators.
• Design and pilot evidence-based curricula for pre-service and in-service educators and special educators.

Our overarching goal is to advance the field of interventions for pediatric TBI through a systematic and coordinated approach to development, replication, and dissemination of promising intervention practices.