Idaho State University

Summary of Accomplishments

Idaho TBI Implementation Grant 2003-2006
Idaho State Action Plan

Grant Team: Russell C. Spearman, M.Ed., Laura J. Tivis, Ph.D. & Beth Hudnall Stamm, Ph.D., Idaho State University Institute of Rural Health

Goal 1: Continue Advisory Councils

• Re-organized to form a single, dedicated statewide advisory council
• Re-established quarterly in-person and/or video-conference meetings
• Charter completed and circulated to continue council as established
• Advisory council list-serve established; utilization encouraged and demonstrated by team members
• Advisory council input established for VPC and Needs & Resources Assessment
• Council members participated in annual State Grantee meetings; presented perceptions of meeting/outcomes to non-attending council members

Goal 2: Coordinate with Injury Control and Prevention Programs

• VPC content section dedicated to injury control and prevention
• Team members met with Idaho Injury Prevention Specialist to discuss trauma prevention opportunities
• Team member provided fall data to Injury Prevention Specialist
• Established interest and lines of communication regarding state trauma registry and identification of funding mechanisms
• Disseminated to each potential participant on the annual Needs/Resources assessment, information from the 2003 and 2004 Needs/Resources assessments
• Collected and analyzed 2004 Needs/Resources data
• Collected and analyzed 2005 Needs/Resources data

Goal 3: Coordinate Resources

• Resources identified in 2004 assessment cataloged for VPC
• Manuscript written and submitted on planning grant Needs/Resources data
• Ongoing VPC content development
• Collaborative relationship established with AssistGuide, Inc. to improve VPC framework
• Established collaborative relationships on TBI interests with faculty in ISU Dept of Communication Sciences & Disorders
• Team members attended Pacific Northwest Brain Injury Association conference, 2004
• Team member attended and presented Idaho TBI Implementation Grant data (by invitation) at Pacific Northwest Brain Injury Association conference, 2005

Goal 4: Conduct Educational Activities

• Completed TBI VGR series each semester (two series per year) marketed to professionals, consumers and family members; 1285 duplicated and 562 non-duplicated attendees in Idaho.
• Provided thirty-four hours of continuing education.
• Coordinated VGR across three states (Idaho, Washington, and Wyoming) for a total of 21 sites (Idaho, Washington, Wyoming) in 2004.
• Additional rural Idaho site (Salmon) added for Fall 2005 series
• Disseminated information from the 2003 and 2004 Needs/Resources assessment
• Participated in the creation of the text Traumatic Brain Injury Facts: TBI & Older Adults published by the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators in 2004
• Submitted journal article on VGRs, including TBI VGRs; accepted for publication in Rural and Remote Health

Goal 5: Address Reimbursement for Services

• Conducted planning and analysis sessions
• Completed preliminary version of economic analysis
• Supported use of Medicaid waiver through VPC content
• Continuing work with state Medicaid office to create policy for service reimbursement
• Included information about TBI and waivers with use and policy recommendations in document for National Association of Mental Health Planning and Advisory Councils.

Goal 6: Work for System Change

• Collected, analyzed and made available three years of Needs & Resources data to address system change in Idaho
• Collected contact information from 80 out of 160 (50%) of 2005 respondents electing to participate in a post-survey interview
• Launched "spin-off" project developed to determine rate of post-traumatic stress and depressive symptomatology among individuals with mild TBI in Idaho.
• Presenteded a webcast on Idaho's Home of Your Own Initiative to a national audience (Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education-Rural Mental Health Webcast)
• Included information about TBI and waivers with use and policy recommendations in document for National Association of Mental Health Planning and Advisory Councils
• Worked with National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors to develop policy to improve dissemination of evidence based practices, highlighted the importance of recognizing the physical and psychological components of brain injury
• Presented a national perspective on Medicaid TBI brain injury waivers to the New Mexico Brain Injury Advisory Council (invited address)
• Presented during breakout sessions on Telehealth/TBI VGR's and on conducting statewide needs and resource assessments at the HRSA state grant annual meeting, March 2005
• Participated in a National CMS Waiver Application Redesign Process Meeting (invited)
• Presented at the national HCBS waiver conference on Medicaid Brain Injury Waivers "
• Met with CMS regional staff to discuss Idaho's TBI Medicaid Waiver (invited)
• Participated in national MCH/TBI program evaluation measures work group meeting