Mind Your Brain @ Penn Medicine 2024

Opening Remarks

Candace Gantt

President of Mind Your Brain Foundation

M. Sean Grady, MD

Physician Director, Neuroscience Service Line

Professor of Neurosurgery

Professor of Otorhinolaryngology

Keynote Speaker

Janine Kirby is a sort of brawler in life. With a demanding manual-labor job, a passion for boxing and always seeking adventure, “Kirby” was physically ready for almost anything. In 2012, when Kirby suffered a life-altering traumatic brain injury at work, her fitness level helped her to persevere through years of rehab, but what she was not prepared for was the mental and emotional challenges she would face. The final round of her fight to recovery was about acceptance, about learning a new normal and about finding her voice, a voice to serve others and, ultimately, herself.

Resource Booth Highlights

A representative from each resource booth will share highlights of what information they offer to assist attendees with planning their day.

Research Panel
Moderated by Douglas H. Smith, MD

Douglas H. Smith, MD, is the Robert A. Groff Endowed Professor of Teaching and Research in Neurosurgery and Director of the Center for Brain Injury and Repair at Penn Medicine. In addition, Dr. Smith is the Scientific Director of the Big 10/Ivy League Collaboration on Concussion, and he also serves as a member on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the US National Football League (NFL), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-Department of Defense consortium on concussion and the International Concussion Society. Dr. Smith’s group has discovered mechanisms of concussion and more severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) that lead to progressive neurodegeneration, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). These collective efforts are represented in over 250 published scientific reports.

This session will be moderated by Dr. Smith and will feature leading experts and researchers in the brain injury field and community.

15-minute travel time

Workshop Session 1

A. Nutrition and Wellness After Brain Injury Randel Swanson, II, DO, PhD

Many people often wonder what they can do to improve overall brain health. There is not one isolated approach to this, rather it is the biocomplexity of whole, unprocessed foods (largely plant-based) consumed on a regular basis that provide the best nutrition for the brain (and every other organ in the body). A healthy diet, coupled with daily exercise, good quality sleep, avoidance of risky substances (drugs, alcohol, tobacco), strong social contact / support, and having a mission and purpose is the best combined recipe for promoting longitudinal brain health throughout the aging process and is even more important for brain injury survivors. This session will review this topic further and discuss how modifiable risk factors contribute to overall brain health and wellness.

B. Attention After Traumatic Brain Injury Christina Pettet, PT, DPT; Megan Moore, CRNP; Monica Coran, MA, CCC-SLP, CBIS

Medical professionals across Penn Medicine and Good Shepherd Penn Partners will discuss the comprehensive approach for management of attention and its role in recovery following traumatic brain injury. Attention includes a variety of complicated cognitive functions including arousal, processing speed, sustained attention, selective attention, shifting, dividing attention, and working memory (Kolakowsky-Hayner et al., 2019; Ponsford et al., 2023). Difficulty with attention is one of the most common challenges after TBI (Brenner, 2011), therefore requiring appropriate intervention for participation in functional activities. It also serves as the foundation for many other cognitive and physical skills, such as memory, communication, and spatial awareness (VanSolkema et al, 2020). Given this complexity, attention support may involve multiple care providers. This multidisciplinary presentation will include perspectives from physical therapy, speech therapy, and neurology to provide education and increase awareness of how attention challenges may present, strategies to minimize difficulty, and precautions to reduce added activity disruptions. Physical therapy and speech therapy will review levels of attention with sample activities, ways to practice attention skills, and strategies to mitigate distraction and over-stimulation in order to reduce symptom response. At the conclusion of this presentation, attendees will have a greater understanding of the impact attention has on all activities and what they can begin doing for symptom management.

C. Self-Care: Easier Said Than Done? Not Necessarily! (FOR CAREGIVERS)
Elissa Lewin, MA Licensed Psychologist and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

One frustrating part of taking care of someone else is hearing, yet again, “You have to take care of yourself.” How are you supposed to add that to an ever-growing to-do list? Why is that even important right now? This presentation reviews the physical and emotional impacts of taking care of someone who has experienced a TBI; participants will be given several self-care techniques that can fit into any schedule; participants will be introduced to Nancy’s House, a program dedicated to serving family caregivers. Nancy’s House offers a wide range of programs and services to support family caregivers as they continue in their journey of caring for someone else.

D. Advocacy 101 by The Toastmasters

The Cerner Toastmasters club (Toastmasters International) is a nonprofit educational organization that builds confidence and teaches public speaking skills) will present the skills you will need to develop and present a 2-minute pitch to legislators. The brain injury community has the opportunity to support Pennsylvania’s HB #1682 that mandates private insurance companies to cover cognitive rehabilitation. Let’s have a clear and powerful voice to get this bill passed!

Lunch/Resource Booths

Workshop Sessions 2

A. The Benefits of Having Fun: The Importance of Recreation for Mild, Moderate and Severe TBI Survivors Neha Dhadwal, DO; Palak Patel, MD; Madeline Watson, CTRS; Kelly Heath, MD

Following mild, moderate, or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), patients often experience social isolation. A previous study indicated that patients have an extremely limited social circle outside of their caregiving team and family members. Social isolation correlated with a diminished quality of life. Recreation for TBI patients, both in a therapy session and in the community, allows for increased social interaction, which has been shown to improve quality of life. The goal of this session is to highlight the potential benefits of recreation in mild, moderate and severe TBI survivors. In addition, an overview of activities that have been shown to help brain injury patients will be covered. Finally, attendees will be provided a list of potential opportunities and programs in the community that they may be able to pursue.

B. Finding Your Voice

The Cerner Toastmasters club (Toastmasters International) is a nonprofit educational organization that builds confidence and teaches public speaking skills). This session will prepare you to communicate with your health care providers. You will learn how to organize your thoughts and deliver meaningful information about your challenges to your family, friends, therapists, and doctors. Learn how to express yourself better.

C. Life after Brain Injury Frances Musto, PsyD, MSN

TBI can impose unexpected changes including physical, sensory, cognitive, emotional, psychological, and social challenges. Dr. Musto will address the complex array of symptoms inflicted by TBI and will provide a user’s guide of resources and tips to help survivors improve life after brain injury.

D. Move With More Ease Mara Yale, PhD, GCFP, SEP

Participants will learn about the role of the nervous system and gravity in movement at any age and the power of neuroplasticity. In an experiential movement lesson done in chairs, Mara will introduce you to a way of learning through movement that can improve how you move, think, balance, and breathe. This lesson is based on the Feldenkrais Method® and Somatic Experiencing. Verbal instructions invite you to move in slow, small, playful ways to explore what is possible. Through this series of movement experiments, you may find more ease. Abilities that have been impossible may become possible. Ones that have been possible may become easier. Ones that were already easy may become elegant! Wherever you begin, there is room to improve. Sometimes, students feel taller, lighter, or more comfortable after doing a lesson.

15-minute travel time

Workshop Sessions 3

A. “Strive” and Other Tools to Achieve Your Fitness Goals MJ Schmidt, MA, CBIST and Scott Dillman, MBA, Founder of Fighting Back Scholarship Program

Getting and staying active after a brain injury is challenging but very important. Regular exercise has been linked with improved mood, cognition, and overall health. This session will focus on practical strategies to improve your ability to set and achieve health/wellness/fitness goals and to work to overcome common barriers to achieving them. Key take-aways from this session include the value of SMART goals, peer support, regular check-ins on accountability, the use of Fitbit, and the ability to focus on effort (versus achievement) and self-care. Participants should expect to leave this session both motivated and better equipped to tackle their goals.

B. Achieving High Functioning Goals; Increasing Survivors’ cognitive performance through their personal technology Elliot Cole, PhD

Personal technology is widespread in our society but is underutilized as a tool for cognitive rehabilitation. The day before someone has a brain injury, they are heavily involved using a number of personal technology devices to support cognitive aspects of their daily activities. After a brain injury, if you continue to have cognitive disabilities, your personal technology should be even more valuable in supporting cognitive properties of activities that are important to you. This session will provide the brain injury survivor with practical ways of using your personal technology following a brain injury, especially after discharge from cognitive rehabilitation.

C. Memory tools Allison Albrycht MS, OTR/L, CBIS & Jessica Walter MSCCC-SLP, CBIS

Word finding, name recall, or what did I come into this room for are experiences everyone can relate to. Traumatic brain injury survivors can find themselves more frustrated with the frequency and difficulty of their memory challenges. This session explains the process of remembering and types of memory, provides strategies for managing changes in memory and offers activities to improve your memory and cognition.

D. When the Eyes Lie: Strategies to Care for Vision Issues, Headache, and Balance after Brain Injury Helena Esmonde, PT, DPR, NCS

Blurred or double vision, sensitivity to light, a visual field loss, impaired convergence, and visual motion sensitivity are all potential visual issues that individuals may experience after brain injury. Visual impairments can contribute to headaches, eye strain, and difficulty concentrating. In addition, the visual system is one of our key information systems for balance, so it is important to address visual issues when they occur both to decrease difficulty with visual functions such as reading as well as to reduce falls risk. A skilled team including a neuro-optometrist, physical and/or occupational therapists, and a concussion care medical team can all provide options to assist patients in the care of vision issues and imbalance after brain injury. This lecture will provide strategies that can be applied to reduce visual issues and imbalance. Attendees will also receive a handout with resources for education including ways to find supportive providers of vision and balance care in the greater Philadelphia region.

15-minute travel time

Closing Remarks