title: Defense and Veterans Head Injury Program: background and overview.
abstract: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the principal cause of death and disability for young Americans, with an estimated societal cost of over $39 billion per year. The Defense and Veterans Head Injury Program (DVHIP) represents a close collaboration among the Departments of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (DVA), the Brain Injury Association (BIA), and the International Brain Injury Association (IBIA). Its principal mission is to ensure that military and veteran patients with head injury receive TBI-specific evaluation, treatment, rehabilitation, and follow-up, while at the same time addressing the readiness mission of the military and helping to define optimal care for victims of TBI nationwide. Defense and Veterans Head Injury Program activities can be grouped into three broad classes: (1) TBI education, community service, and primary prevention projects; (2) combined TBI clinical treatment, rehabilitation, and clinical research projects; and (3) clinically linked TBI laboratory research projects. It is thus based on a prudent integration of clinical care and follow-up with programmatic clinical and clinically related laboratory research, TBI prevention, and education. This previously nonexistent clinical infrastructure now offers a valuable base for ongoing TBI clinical research.
authors.affiliation: Defense and Veterans Head Injury Program, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Salazar
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Zitnay
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Warden
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Schwab
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001519:Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000628:therapy*; D002423:Cause of Death; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000628:therapy*; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006077:Government Agencies; D006266:Health Education; D006285:Health Planning; D006801:Humans; D008889:Military Personnel; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011322:Primary Prevention; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012041:Regional Medical Programs; D012042:Registries; D012106:Research; D012955:Societies, Medical; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D014728:Veterans
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs