Report from the Field: Fundamentals in Action

By Cynthia Barrus, PT, MM, CBIST, Spectrum Health

Spectrum Health has utilized the Certified Brain Injury Specialist (CBIS) training program since 2004 to certify many interdisciplinary clinicians across various settings within the health system to attain certification. Program leaders were very excited when to hear ACBIS was developing an introductory training program specifically designed for direct caregivers and staff new to the field of brain injury rehabilitation. We reached out to ACBIS to see how we could best support this new training program.

Ultimately, Spectrum Health was able to contribute to the development of the Brain Injury Fundamentals training program, selected as a pilot site prior to the official program launch. Feedback from staff participating in the pilot was very positive – and we enthusiastically discussed how we could go forward to offer the training to staff in our four CARF-accredited rehabilitation programs.

Spectrum Health program leaders requested funding through the organization’s foundation and were granted funds for quarterly training sessions to take place through 2019.

We discussed how to best provide this training in a collaborative manner, and decided to build a team of trainers with representation from each of our accredited programs. The trainer’s team is made up of multiple clinical disciplines, from multiple programs, and are required to have at least 3 years as a CBIS. Since we had many team members that met the requirements, this was a wonderful opportunity to develop growth among the team. We were very enthusiastic about the opportunity to increase the number of new instructors for this new program!

Our Brain Injury Fundamentals training is provided in one eight-hour day. Each trainer is expected to be able to teach any sections of the manual, with 3-4 trainers teaching each training day. This allows the learners to interact with different instructors. Our team of trainers includes clinicians from physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech language pathology, recreational therapy, nursing, social work and a residential program manager.To date, more than 75 staff members have participated and successfully completed the training program. Upon completion, they are awarded a Brain Injury Fundamentals pin. Our team wears them proudly!

Below is a summary of benefits experienced to date:

• The training provides opportunities for improved collaboration between clinical site trainers and team members working at different levels of care
• The design of the training program fosters class interaction and builds connections between staff members working at different programs
• Instructors appreciate having an opportunity to have variety in their work and recognize that being an instructor keeps them on your clinical toes!

Pre- and post-learning assessments were provided to all team participants who demonstrated improved knowledge and understanding in all 18 areas that were assessed. Staff comment: “I learned that it’s important to be more proactive rather than reactive. I gained a more solid understanding of how persons with TBI live their daily lives, and what they need from us to have best quality of life.”

We are very encouraged by the positive staff responses regarding the training, and are currently working on next steps for continued use of Brain Injury Fundamentals as a core training program for our brain injury specialty programs.

Spectrum Health, a not-for-profit integrated health system located in West Michigan, provides a broad range of care, services and programs to people following traumatic brain injury. Our continuum of care includes a level one trauma center, integrated neurosurgery, neurology, physiatry and neurorehabilitation, including inpatient acute and subacute rehabilitation programs, home and community based services, and residential and outpatient brain injury rehabilitation programs.