Understanding Health Care

The International Brain Injury Association’s Eighth World Congress on Brain Injury will be held in Washington, DC, March 10-14, 2010. The IBIA World Congress is the largest gathering of international professionals working in the field of brain injury. Delegates are comprised of physicians, psychologists and neuropsychologists, therapists and rehabilitation professionals, social workers, nurses, case managers, legal professionals, advocates and all others working in the field of brain injury.

The aim of the Eighth World Congress is to provide an opportunity for establishing collegial relationships with international professionals focused on the care and/or service of persons with acquired brain injury and/or the science of brain injury research. State of the art research will be presented dealing with information spanning from basic science to clinical (coma to community) aspects of brain injury.  This will be the first time the World Congress has been held in the United States.  For additional information on the IBIA’s World Congress please visit their website online here.

On July 1, 2009 Governor Corzine announced another 62,000 households in New Jersey will receive the

applications they requested on their state tax forms. This second regional mailing is for families residing in Essex and Hudson counties.

The New Jersey Family Care Express Lane ensures that children in New Jersey will have access to the health care services they deserve.

Governor Corzine states, “Ensuring that children have a healthy start in life has been a personal priority for me,” Governor Corzine said. “It has been a precedent in each of my budgets and last July, we even expanded the program to include a child mandate and enrolled thousands more kids and their families.  And when the Bush administration tried to cut 10,000 kids out of New Jersey’s Family Care Program, we said ‘NO,’ taking appropriate legal action. So I am particularly proud that through this new Express Lane option, New Jersey is making even greater strides to reach and enroll every eligible child and in doing so has become a national model for other states to follow.”

You can read the full press release online here.

I read an interesting article yesterday in the New York Times discussing a new study which states that high school football players on average experience greater acceleration forces to their heads when they collide with other players than college players do. This increased acceleration leads to increased risk and dangers associated to the players in the form of injuries and concussions.

The article discusses The Journal of Athletic Training’s researchers who studied 35 members of a varsity high school football team in Illinois. The students wore devices in their helmets for one season in order to measure the forces they were subjected to. The study found that not only did high school players experience greater acceleration at impact, but the distribution of the force to the top of the player’s helmets, which could potentially lead to cervical injuries.

You can read the full article online here.

 

I recently read an interesting article on the International Brain Injury Association’s website discussing the notably difficult task of developing drug treatments for patients suffering from traumatic brain injuries. The article, written by Neal M. Farber, PhD, CEO of NeuroHealing Pharmaceuticals, Inc., states that most clinical trials for possible pharmaceutical treatments for traumatic brain injuries have been driven by pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Farber goes on to state that there is an active need for physicians, researchers and the pharmaceutical industry to bolster efforts to help develop much needed and more effective drug therapies for treating patients with traumatic brain injuries. 

You can read Farber’s full article online here.
 

A few months ago I reported on the Brain Injury Association of New Jersey's new initiative to develop a website for parents of teenage drivers. I am pleased to announce that the website, www.NJTeenDriving.com, is now up and running. This website was built in conjunction with the recently launched UGotBrains.com website, which serves as a source of information for new teen drivers on the safety issues they will face most often.

NJTeenDriver.com will offer parents teen driver safety statistics, quick tips for keeping your teen safe, educational videos, and reports from the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, and AAA. The site will also provide parents with updates on new laws and legislation which will impact teen drivers, and reports on the latest technology designed to protect new young drivers.