F&H Cares Profile: How CBIRT's Traumatic Brain Injury Outreach Helps Families and Communities

Fabrics and Home's 2024 F& H Cares recipient is The Center on Brain Injury Research and Training (CBIRT), a center under the Department of Psychology at the University of Oregon. This organization seeks to help children and adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI). We applaud their work with this informational blog post about their initiatives and research. 

“CBIT’s research focuses on developing intervention to improve outcomes related to education, employability and quality of life, “ explained Melissa McCart, CBIRT director. “Our training activities promote the use of best practices among educators and other professionals who serve individuals with TBI.”

Partners in CBIRT endeavors include individuals with TBI, family members, educators and other professionals who serve individuals with TBI, hospitals and research colleagues, she explained.

Here are a few current projects of the organization:

Online interventions (developed by CBIRT, independently or in collaboration with colleagues) support individuals with brain injuries and their families. These include tools to encourage youth athlete safety; InfoCabeza, an online information portal for Spanish- and English-speaking parents to help athletes who suffered a concussion as well as to educate their families on concussion safety; Concussion_Space and GO Huddle, tools to increase concussion reporting and safety and coach training; onTrack, online TBI recovery assistance site and family, athletic staff and others support; and Skill Builder, a 14-week online training program for new TBI staff. These research-based resources address cognitive, educational and emotional challenges, and showcase CBIRT’s commitment to practical and effective solutions.

"Lived Experiences with Traumatic Brain Injury" podcast (hosted by Melaney Grenz) focuses on individuals whose lives have been impacted by TBI. Through candid interviews, the series seeks to provide understanding, connection, hope and resources for the brain injury community.

Traumatic Brain Injury System of Support for Kids (TBI SOS 4 Kids). This project aims to boost TBI awareness and support in Texas schools and communities using a four-point model. The initiative is financed by a Toyota’s Way Forward Fund grant, and other partners include Texas A&M and UT Austin. CBIRT hopes to eventually create similar TBI SOS 4 Kids programs in other school districts.

Return to School website. This online resource provides educators with information on TBI (live and recorded webinars, training and more) and how to support students with brain injury.

The Return to School project is a four-year, $2.2 million cooperative agreement with The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study the effectiveness of a return to school model of services and supports for students with concussion/brain injury. The project has enrolled about 700 families and collected data from over 5,000 surveys on the experience students and their families had during the return to school process after a concussion/brain injury.

Learn more about F&H Cares recipient, CBIRT.

Find out additional information about F&H Cares, an ongoing yearly mission to help school-aged children impacted by one of the 13 disabilities listed in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Fabrics and Home donates 25 cents per yard for each yard of fabric sold from fabrics purchased on our website.

All photos provided by CBIRT.