This interview is with a panel of three Rusk leaders: Dr. Tamara Bushnik, Dr. Brian Im, and Michelle Smith.
Dr. Tamara Bushnik is an Associate Professor and Director of Inter-Hospital Research and Knowledge Translation at Rusk Rehabilitation. She is is the Project Director of the current RuskTraumatic Brain Injury Model Systems (TBIMS) at NYU. She has over 50 peer-reviewed manuscripts since joining the project. She has been the Chair of the TBIMS Knowledge Translation Committee since 1999 and has led the selection of topics for the popular traumatic brain injury Fact Sheets and end-of-grant-cycle special issues/sections highlighting TBIMS research.
Dr. Brian Im is the director of brain injury rehabilitation at Rusk where he treats both inpatients and outpatients in the brain injury rehabilitation program. He is heavily involved in program development and academic medicine. He is the program director for the ACGME accredited brain injury medicine fellowship at NYU School of Medicine, has an active role in TBI research, and in the TBIMS projects. His research focus of interest is in studying the health care disparities and differences that exist in TBI care for different populations.
Michelle Smith is an Assistant Research Scientist where she manages day-to-day activities of studies, including the TBIMS National Database. She has a professional background and interests in health communications with the goal of providing vital information to patients to help improve their health through increasing health literacy. Prior to her current role, she managed the development and implementation of research studies to improve health in the underserved community of Harlem by developing and maintaining a website and a randomized-controlled trial to reduce hypertension.
During the interview, the three discuss: treatment of older patients who sustained a traumatic brain injury; interventions necessary when patients' health literacy levels are low; addressing patients’ treatment preferences when they have different beliefs about the nature of health problems; and how patients' level of emotional functioning can affect treatment outcomes.
Dr. Jonathan Whiteson is Assistant Professor, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine; Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine; Medical Director of Rusk Outreach and Growth; and Medical Director of Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. His research interests include: cardiac rehabilitation for patients with advanced congestive heart failure and after left ventricular assist device placement, pulmonary rehabilitation of individuals exposed to world trade center dust, and recognizing encephalopathy and delirium in the cardiopulmonary rehabilitation setting. His medical degree is from the University of London and he completed his residency at NYU Medical Center in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation where he also completed a fellowship in cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation. He is certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
This is the second of a two-part series with Dr. Whiteson in which he discusses many topics including: conditions such as medically complex, cardio-pulmonary, stroke, or TBI that make it more likely that a patient could become a candidate for readmission within 30 days of being discharged; challenges in treating frail patients; a pilot program at Rusk that involves patient needs assessment, medication reconciliation, patient education, making arrangements for out-patient/home-based services, and telephone follow-up; what is being done at Rusk from the standpoint of educating family caregivers and viewing them as valuable members of the health care team; how the Rusk team does an assessment of the safety of a patient's home to lower the risk of falls; and problems associated with polypharmacy that need to be taken into account when providing rehabilitation care.
Dr. Jonathan Whiteson is Assistant Professor, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine; Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine; Medical Director of Rusk Outreach and Growth; and Medical Director of Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. His research interests include: cardiac rehabilitation for patients with advanced congestive heart failure and after left ventricular assist device placement, pulmonary rehabilitation of individuals exposed to world trade center dust, and recognizing encephalopathy and delirium in the cardiopulmonary rehabilitation setting. His medical degree is from the University of London and he completed his residency at NYU Medical Center in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation where he also completed a fellowship in cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation. He is certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
This is the first of a two-part series with Dr. Whiteson in which he discusses many topics including: conditions such as medically complex, cardio-pulmonary, stroke, or TBI that make it more likely that a patient could become a candidate for readmission within 30 days of being discharged; challenges in treating frail patients; a pilot program at Rusk that involves patient needs assessment, medication reconciliation, patient education, making arrangements for out-patient/home-based services, and telephone follow-up; what is being done at Rusk from the standpoint of educating family caregivers and viewing them as valuable members of the health care team; how the Rusk team does an assessment of the safety of a patient's home to lower the risk of falls; and problems associated with polypharmacy that need to be taken into account when providing rehabilitation care.
Dr. Steven Flanagan is the Chair, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and Howard A. Rusk Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at Rusk Rehabilitation. He is highly recognized, nationally and internationally, as one of the leading experts in the area of brain injury rehabilitation. He serves on numerous medical advisory boards, including the Brain Trauma Foundation and is a peer reviewer for several scientific journals. He currently is chairperson of the Medical Education Committee and sits on the Board of Governors of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Medicine. The author of numerous chapters and peer-reviewed publications, he has received awards from several organizations and been continually listed as one of America’s Top Doctors by Castle Connolly.
In this interview, he discusses: the kinds of patients treated for TBI at Rusk, if a TBI sustained during early adulthood or mid-adulthood can pose a risk for dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases associated with aging, the role of brain reserve in developing an understanding of the interplay between TBI and neurodegenerative diseases associated with aging, treatment of chronic cognitive impairment in TBI, TBI and sleep disorders, inclusion of family members in the care giver team, the use of technological innovations in rehabilitation, and research on TBI being conducted at Rusk, along with any system enhancements underway or being planned.