A Proposal | Four Measures to Deal with the NFL's Concussion Problem

TBI ADVOCATE'S NOTE:  This past March 2015, Jason Lacanfora of CBS Sports NFL Insider bravely challenged the NFL Competition Commitee to consider 4 more potential changes to the Florida game — all of which, he writes are lingering loopholes in the system-in-place to detect and determine head and neck injuries.

It was a strong proposal.  It was spurred by the unfortunate event:  Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman was told to remain in a Super Bowl game even after he took a nasty hit in the fourth quarter.

What follows is a severely redacted excerpt of Lacanfora's article, entitled "Here are four things the NFL needs to do to fix its concussion problem."  Visit the complete article by clicking here to read beyond what's shared here.

Before joining CBS Sports, Jason La Canfora was the Washington Redskins beat writer for The Washington Post for six years and served as NFL Network's insider. The Baltimore native can be seen every Sunday during the season onThe NFL Today.

Follow Jason on Twitter.

Julian Edelman staggers to his feet after a vicious hit by Kam Chancellor. (USATSI)

Here Are Four Things the NFL Needs to Do to Fix Its Concussion Problem

By Jason Lacanfora

CBS Sports NFL Insider:  The NFL Competition Committee has a bevy of potential changes to the game to consider this week as it continues to meet in Naples, Florida, before ultimately making suggestions for owners to vote on later this month.

I can only hope that when these measures go before ownership at the spring meeting there is a concerted effort made to close lingering loopholes in the system in place to detect and determine head and neck injuries.

If the Super Bowl, and the sight of a staggering and apparently dazed Julian Edelman staying in the game, taught us anything, it's that even with the world's eyes on the game there are still instances where players are not potentially being saved from themselves. Edelman took a nasty hit from Kam Chancellor in the fourth quarter that left him dazed but he never left the field. He went on to catch three more balls for 33 yards, including a game-tying touchdown.


There remains significant work to be done at the highest levels of the NFL to ensure safer conditions; Troy Vincent, the league's VP of football operations, has written and talked about the import of such initiatives and now is the time to put them into practice.

Vincent, in providing a preview on the Competition Committee meetings on the NFL's Football Operations website over the weekend, outlined the various proposals being discussed. They include tweaking the extra point, modifying what is reviewable on instant replay and possibly eliminating the chop block.

1) Medical timeouts
To me, the most significant of them all was the potential introduction of a medical timeout where an independent third party would be empowered to stop the game and require a player to undergo a concussion test.

2) Better spotters, better communication
I don't think it would take all that elaborate of a plan to make this work. Give the spotters a device that signals the head official to immediately stop the game….

New England Patriots' Julian Edelman. (USATSI)

The [injured] player is ushered off the field in a careful and timely manner and then play resumes while the concussion test is administered.

3) Expanding game-day rosters
Vincent states the league is considering expanding the game-day roster for Thursday night games. I still can't understand why such a novel concept isn't already in place.

Forget game-day inactives and make all 53 players active for every game. Eliminate the roster pinch and the concern in the back of any coach's mind about not having enough players to fill in while someone is being evaluated on the sidelines.

4) Establishing an IR (or Designated to Return) like baseball
And, while we're at it, let's add a new injury designation to provide more flexibility for concussed players. Establishing an IR — Designated To Return — was a nice step to provide a cushion for teams to use a player later without losing him for the season (why only one designation per year, though?), but like baseball the NFL should add a concussion-specific designation that allows a player to not count against the active roster for any amount of time – one week, two weeks, a month, whatever – while he remains in the concussion protocol.

Read the entire 4-point proposal by clicking here.

Let's Be Social | Google+ Post You May Like From #TBIAffectedMe

GOOGLE+   In the interest of bringing greater awareness to Traumatic Brain Injury (also known as intracranial injury), an image post by a G+ site called "TBI Support for Family and Caregivers" caught our eye.  Scroll down and check out the informative post.

It's a very personal G+ site maintained by Pamela Guerin who works at BayShore Agency and lives in New Gretna, New Jersey.  The site tracks her work with family and caregivers of persons struck by TBI.  It also informs.  For example, one post explains that 

TBI "occurs when an external force traumatically injures the brain. TBI can be classified based on severity, mechanism, or other features. Head injury usually refers to TBI, but is a broader category because it can involve damage to structures other than the brain, such as the scalp and skull (from en.wikipedia.org).

Without a doubt, "TBI Support for Family and Caregivers" cares very much.  

This past March 2015 — which was Brain Injury Awareness Month — the site offered this fine post:

To honor our friends, supporters, and all the remarkable survivors of brain injury, we are launching the #TBIaffectedme campaign!  Our goal is to encourage those affected by brain injury, whether directly or indirectly, to share their stories using #TBIaffectedme. 

By taking part in our campaign, you can unite with the thousands of New Jerseyans living with brain injury and their families who are taking action to ensure their voices are heard.  We would welcome your support! 

Do consider joining this #TBIaffectedme Twitter campaign, if you like. After all, this advocacy project began because TBI did affect us who are participants of Mount Sinai Hospital's Bridge and Phase 2 programs. —tbi advocate  

Emotional Regulation | Changing Emotions by Acting Opposite to the Current Emotion

TBI Advocate's Note:  What follows is an excerpt from a splendid website entitled "How Psychology Tests Brain Injury." 

Please visit this valuable site by click here.  Offer your support. 

Having studied psychology, the Dutch author Feri Kovács has specialized in neuropsychology and rehabilitation.  This field studies the relationship between brain and behavior — more specifically, brain injury and its consequences and how to cope with it.

By FERI KOVÁCS
Clinical neuropsychologist in Holland         

NETHERLANDS |  Emotions are not only essential in life, they give the flavor to your life as well. Without them, life would be dull but also your information processing would be making much more mistakes.

Feri Kovács

Feelings closely work together with your cognitive (information processing) system to handle yourself, your world and others. Brain injury can change all this.

The most common complaint of family members is that their partner is changed, in his or her emotional reactions.

Meaning: less emotionally stable.

If someone was quite in balance, after the brain injury there can be sudden outbursts of aggression or anxiety.


               

Brain injury affects your emotions and increases stress

Mood changes tend to come more frequently and much more intense than they used to be. Control over such outbursts seems to be reduced. It is as if someone has more stress than before and can not handle it effectively anymore.

Four basic emotions and control

Science dictates that there are six basic emotions:

1. anger, 
2. fear, 
3. sadness, 
4. joy, 
5. disgust and 
6. surprise. 

Actually, one scientist Ekman made this divisions after studying facial expressions all over the world. I and especially some philosophers disagree with this list and I believe that there are only 4 basic emotions.  The rest is just a derivative of these four.

The four fundamental basic ones are:

1. anger, 
2. fear, 
3. sadness and
4. last but not least joy. 

As you can see, nature has provided us and most higher animals with 75% negative feelings. Joy is clearly in the minority.  I always can speculate quite simply why this is so.  I always tell my patients how they can imagine that in the jungle a group of lions can survive if joy would be the most important emotion.

Ever seen only happy lions around? Just laughing? When seeing a deer or a gazelle, they would just laugh? Can you imagine how long such lions would survive out there?

Evolution is also the reason that fear is the most predominant emotion in most higher animals, and also in man.  Sadness is a special case and it only exists in higher animals, not in reptiles. Ever seen a crocodile grieving or sad (as far as we can tell)?

Although feelings are very useful and even necessary for survival, we as human beings have one fundamental task: to control them and not getting overwhelmed by them.

Read the rest of this essay.  Please click here.  Don't forget to check the rest of the site.

© Copyright  F. Kovács. All rights reserved. No reproduction of any kind without express permission.

Understanding TBI | Bridge Advocacy Project

An Advocacy Project
By 2014–2015 Class of Bridge Program at Mount Sinai Hospital Rehab Center

NEW YORK CITY — Participants of the 2014–2015 Bridge Program at Mount Sinai Hospital's Rehabilitation Center were given the task of creating and producing an Advocacy Project that would raise the public's awareness of TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury).

Since these participants are affected by TBI, they put their heads together to come up with a board presentation that would be featured on the Rehab Center's hallway, which is located at 5 East 102nd Street in East Harlem.  This TBI Advocacy Project began in November 2014 and was completed in May 2015. It involved heavy research.

All of these Bridge participants are outpatients and affected TBI.  They entitled the board project as "Understanding TBI."  Keep revisiting this blog to see posts that feature sections of the project. Ultimately, you will see the entire TBI Advocacy Project board.  

These industrious Bridge participants look forward to hearing — and learning about —your reactions to their TBI Advocacy Project. 

Understanding TBI | How Does Brain Injury Affect Families?

An Advocacy Project
By 2014–2015 Class of Bridge Program at Mount Sinai Hospital Rehab Center

NEW YORK CITY — Participants of the 2014–2015 Bridge Program at Mount Sinai Hospital's Rehabilitation Center were given the task of creating and producing an Advocacy Project that would raise the public's awareness of TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury).

Since these participants are affected by TBI, they put their heads together to come up with a board presentation that would be featured on the Rehab Center's hallway, which is located at 5 East 102nd Street in East Harlem.  This TBI Advocacy Project began in November 2014 and was completed in May 2015. It involved heavy research.

All of these Bridge participants are outpatients and affected TBI.  They entitled the board project as "Understanding TBI."  Keep revisiting this blog to see posts that feature sections of the project. Ultimately, you will see the entire TBI Advocacy Project board.  

These industrious Bridge participants look forward to hearing — and learning about —your reactions to their TBI Advocacy Project. 

HOW DOES BRAIN INJURY AFFECT FAMILY MEMBERS?

For most family members, life is not the same after a TBI.  You are not alone in what you are feeling.

Some family and friends don't understand what you are feeling on a daily basis.

Some people experience a great deal of stress after their injury.

Ways to reduce stress can go on for a long time and can have a negative affect on the human body.

Prolonged stress can lead to depression and/or anxiety.

Learn how to relax.

Take a few moments.

There are a number of ways that you can reduce stress. 

Take a few moments for yourself.

Exercise regularly.

Participate in support groups.

Changing roles with the family.

Try to maintain a sense of humor.

Understanding TBI | Get Hip To These Top 10 Myths About TBI (Part 1 of 3)

An Advocacy Project
By 2014–2015 Class of Bridge Program at Mount Sinai Hospital Rehab Center

NEW YORK CITY — Participants of the 2014–2015 Bridge Program at Mount Sinai Hospital's Rehabilitation Center were given the task of creating and producing an Advocacy Project that would raise the public's awareness of TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury).

Since these participants are affected by TBI, they put their heads together to come up with a board presentation that would be featured on the Rehab Center's hallway, which is located at 5 East 102nd Street in East Harlem.  This TBI Advocacy Project began in November 2014 and was completed in May 2015. It involved heavy research.

All of these Bridge participants are outpatients and affected TBI.  They entitled the board project as "Understanding TBI."  Keep revisiting this blog to see posts that feature sections of the project. Ultimately, you will see the entire TBI Advocacy Project board.  

These industrious Bridge participants look forward to hearing — and learning about —your reactions to their TBI Advocacy Project. 

Understanding TBI | Get Hip To These Top 10 Myths About TBI (Part 2 of 3)

An Advocacy Project
By 2014–2015 Class of Bridge Program at Mount Sinai Hospital Rehab Center

NEW YORK CITY — Participants of the 2014–2015 Bridge Program at Mount Sinai Hospital's Rehabilitation Center were given the task of creating and producing an Advocacy Project that would raise the public's awareness of TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury).

Since these participants are affected by TBI, they put their heads together to come up with a board presentation that would be featured on the Rehab Center's hallway, which is located at 5 East 102nd Street in East Harlem.  This TBI Advocacy Project began in November 2014 and was completed in May 2015. It involved heavy research.

All of these Bridge participants are outpatients and affected TBI.  They entitled the board project as "Understanding TBI."  Keep revisiting this blog to see posts that feature sections of the project. Ultimately, you will see the entire TBI Advocacy Project board.  

These industrious Bridge participants look forward to hearing — and learning about —your reactions to their TBI Advocacy Project. 

By 2014–2015 Class of Bridge Program at Mount Sinai Hospital Rehab Center

Understanding TBI | Get Hip To These Top 10 Myths About TBI (Part 3 of 3)

An Advocacy Project
By 2014–2015 Class of Bridge Program at Mount Sinai Hospital Rehab Center

NEW YORK CITY — Participants of the 2014–2015 Bridge Program at Mount Sinai Hospital's Rehabilitation Center were given the task of creating and producing an Advocacy Project that would raise the public's awareness of TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury).

Since these participants are affected by TBI, they put their heads together to come up with a board presentation that would be featured on the Rehab Center's hallway, which is located at 5 East 102nd Street in East Harlem.  This TBI Advocacy Project began in November 2014 and was completed in May 2015. It involved heavy research.

All of these Bridge participants are outpatients and affected TBI.  They entitled the board project as "Understanding TBI."  Keep revisiting this blog to see posts that feature sections of the project. Ultimately, you will see the entire TBI Advocacy Project board.  

These industrious Bridge participants look forward to hearing — and learning about —your reactions to their TBI Advocacy Project. 

By 2014–2015 Class of Bridge Program at Mount Sinai Hospital Rehab Center

Understanding TBI | What Is Traumatic Brain Injury?

An Advocacy Project

By 2014–2015 Class of Bridge Program at Mount Sinai Hospital Rehab Center


NEW YORK CITY — Participants of the 2014–2015 Bridge Program at Mount Sinai Hospital's Rehabilitation Center were given the task of creating and producing an Advocacy Project that would raise the public's awareness of TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury).

Since these participants are affected by TBI, they put their heads together to come up with a board presentation that would be featured on the Rehab Center's hallway, which is located at 5 East 102nd Street in East Harlem.  This TBI Advocacy Project began in November 2014 and was completed in May 2015. It involved heavy research.

All of these Bridge participants are outpatients and affected TBI.  They entitled the board project as "Understanding TBI."  Keep revisiting this blog to see posts that feature sections of the project. Ultimately, you will see the entire TBI Advocacy Project board.  

These industrious Bridge participants look forward to hearing — and learning about —your reactions to their TBI Advocacy Project. 

*****

TBI or Traumatic Brain Injury  —  It is a form of acquired brain injury which occurs when sudden TRAUMA causes damage to the brain.

TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES can be open or closed head injury.

• Open head injuries: These injuries result when an object penetrates the skull/ enters the brain and causes damage to specific areas. (i.e., a bullet enters the brain)
• Closed head injuries: These injuries result from a blow to the head. There is no penetration of the skull (i.e., if your head strikes against the dashboard in a car accident) 

New York City Disability Pride Parade Set to Run July 12

NEW YORK CITY — A new festival is set to take place in July, a month after this June's Gay Pride festival: the Disability Pride NYC Parade.

On July 12, 2015 the Disability Pride NYC Parade will take place from Madison Square Park and proceed down Broadway to Union Square Park. Formation starts at 10:00 am. The Parade begins at 12 noon.

The day will be a celebration of people with disabilities and all they have accomplished both prior to the passage of the ADA 25 years ago and all the civil rights activity that lead up to it. 

The parade will end at Union Square Park where the celebration will culminate with entertainment. 

Parade organizers say, "We look forward to a great celebration with musicians, elected officials, celebrities and people from all over the city and the world."

For further details, visit the Parade website at http://disabilitypridenyc.com.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990. The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public. The purpose of the law is to make sure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the signing of the ADA.

Come to a New TBI Support Group at Mount Sinai Hospital

NEW YORK CITY — Young people who have experienced brain injury may now participate in a new support group at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.

"For too long we have all been separated with no one who understands what our existences are like," says the organizers of this new support group. "Being different is a challenge that we all have to live with.  How about we take a break from that and come together in an environment where no one is different?"

Are you interested in participating on the 4th Thursday of every month from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm?  If so, check out the flyer posted below.

See you there!

— 2014–2015 Bridge Program members