COLLEGE STATION – The “Be An Expert Problem Solver! Caregiving and Coping with TBI” webinar for service providers and family caregivers will be presented starting 11 a.m. EST, 10 a.m. CST on Nov. 7.
To join the free hour-long webinar, which is being presented by the eXtension Military Families Learning Network through an agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense, go to https://learn.extension.org/events/1296.
“Traumatic brain injury, or TBI, is known as the ‘signature wound’ of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom conflicts,” said Rachel Brauner, AgriLife Extension program coordinator — Military Program.
Brauner, who helped coordinate the webinar through Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s Military Program, said the number of those wounded with TBI and accompanying complications has “necessitated major changes in the ways in which the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs treats these injuries.”
“Although family caregivers are to receive education about TBI as early as possible, many families find they need additional and ongoing support,” she said.
The webinar presentation will be given by Dr. Timothy R. Elliott, a professor in the educational psychology department of the College of Education and Human Development, Texas A&M University, College Station.
Elliott holds a joint faculty appointment with the School of Rural Public Health at the Texas A&M Health Sciences Center. He received his Ph.D. in counseling psychology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. After an internship at the Seattle Veterans Administration Medical Center, he served on faculty with the psychology department at Virginia Commonwealth University. He also has been a faculty member with the School of Medicine and psychology department of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Currently, Elliott is editor of the Journal of Clinical Psychology. He was co-editor of the first edition of the Handbook of Rehabilitation Psychology and is a Fellow of three American Psychological Association divisions. He also holds board certification in rehabilitation psychology.
Elliott’s past and current research has examined adjustment processes among persons living with chronic and disabling health conditions, with particular emphasis on the role of social problem-solving abilities and other factors that predict adjustment following disability.
“Living with TBI can present many difficulties for families, as concomitants can include problems with regulating negative moods, displays of aggressive behavior, memory loss and physical symptoms such as recurrent headaches and fatigue,” Elliott said. “Family members are often at a loss in their attempts to understand these behaviors and assist their loved one in day-to-day routines and during times of stress.”
Elliott said the webinar will review basic information about traumatic brain injury, its complications and issues family members may face in living with it.
“The presentation will provide information about coping and specific problem solving strategies that have been useful to other caregivers living with TBI,” he said. “Service providers will also benefit from learning the utility of problem-solving strategies and how to help family caregivers learn these approaches.”
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