Participating in Research: Your Role

Everyone wants to know the results from TBI research. But before we can have research results, the TBI Model System Centers need to collect information about the individual with traumatic brain injury.

How can you help?
If you received your treatment and rehabilitation at a TBIMS Center, you or your family member were asked if information about you could be added to the National TBIMS Database. Each piece of data collected and submitted to the national database is important. It provides a way to "track" or document the outcomes of individuals with TBI. Health providers and researchers want to know what takes place during the recovery process and how an individual manages after their brain injury. This important information helps them develop methods for care and delivery of services.

As an individual with a brain injury, it is important to continue with your follow-up care and return for regular medical check-ups. Recent reports suggest that one-third to one-half of those entered in a TBI research study are lost to follow-up one year after injury.
"Everyone - both individuals with good recovery and those still experiencing problems - need to continue with their follow-up program."
This provides a complete picture of how all individuals progress after a traumatic brain injury.

How can you participate in research if you were not seen at a Model TBI Center?
Some of the Centers invite persons with a brain injury to participate in various research projects. You can contact the Center nearest you to ask if there are any projects for which you qualify. You can also look on the web sites of the individual TBIMS Centers at www.tbims.org/links.html.