An Ecological Momentary Assessment and Intervention Tool for Memory in Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury: Development and Usability of Memory Ecological Momentary Intervention.

Background: Memory and learning deficits are among the most impactful and longest-lasting symptoms experienced by people with chronic traumatic brain injury (TBI). Despite the persistence of post-TBI memory deficits and their implications for community reintegration, memory rehabilitation is restricted to short-term care within structured therapy sessions. Technology shows promise to extend memory rehabilitation into daily life and to increase the number and contextual diversity of learning opportunities.

Demographic, Clinical, Psychosocial, and Behavioral Predictors of Continuous Glucose Monitor Use in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes.

Background: Continuous glucose monitor (CGM) use is increasing rapidly among people with type 2 diabetes, although little is known about predictors of CGM use beyond clinical and demographic information available in electronic medical records. Behavioral and psychosocial characteristics may also predict CGM use.

Objective: We examined clinical, psychosocial, and behavioral characteristics that may predict CGM use in adults with type 2 diabetes.

Local Health Equity Action Teams (LHEATS) as a Novel and Emerging Practice of the Communities Organizing to Promote Equity (COPE) Project in Kansas.

The Communities Organizing to Promote Equity (COPE) Project was implemented in 20 counties across Kansas to build capacity to address health equity by forming local health equity action teams (LHEATS), hiring and training community health workers, facilitating state-wide learning collaboratives, and tailoring communication strategies. We conducted interviews and focus groups with project stakeholders who identified pragmatic recommendations related to LHEAT formation and leadership, establishing trust, nurturing autonomy, and optimizing impact. Insights can improve future community-based health equity efforts.

Memory for Conversation in Traumatic Brain Injury: A Feasibility Study and Preliminary Findings.

Purpose: Despite common clinical complaints about memory for conversation after traumatic brain injury (TBI), the nature and severity of this deficit are unknown. In this research note, we report feasibility and preliminary data from a new conversation memory study protocol.

Method: Participants in this feasibility study were 10 pairs, each including an adult with chronic, moderate-to-severe TBI and their chosen familiar conversation partner.

Sleep Disruption Persists and Relates to Memory Disability After Traumatic Brain Injury: A Cross-Sectional Study of Adults in the Chronic Phase of Injury.

Objective: To examine sleep disruption in chronic traumatic brain injury (TBI) across 3 aims: (1) to examine differences in self-reported sleep disruption between adults with and without a chronic history of TBI; (2) to query reported changes in sleep after TBI; and (3) to explore the relationship between self-reported sleep disruption and memory failures in daily life.

Setting: Community-dwelling participants completed self-report sleep and memory surveys as part of their participation in a larger patient registry.

Participants: This study included 258 participants, and half (n = 129) of them have a chronic history of moderate-severe TBI (mean time since injury is 5.

Does Facebook Use Provide Social Benefits to Adults with Traumatic Brain Injury?

Drawing on the social compensation hypothesis, this study investigates whether Facebook use facilitates social connectedness for individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI), a common and debilitating medical condition that often results in social isolation. In a survey ( = 104 participants;  = 53 with TBI,  = 51 without TBI), individuals with TBI reported greater preference for self-disclosure on Facebook (vs. face-to-face) compared to noninjured individuals.

Intact moral decision-making in adults with moderate-severe traumatic brain injury.

Background And Aim: Deficits in decision-making are a common consequence of moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Less is known, however, about how individuals with TBI perform on moral decision-making tasks. To address this gap in the literature, the current study probed moral decision-making in a sample of individuals with TBI using a widely employed experimental measure.

Assessing Social Needs and Engaging Community Health Workers in Underserved Kansas Counties: Insights From Primary Care Providers and Clinic Managers.

Introduction: Rural and under-resourced urban communities face unique challenges in addressing patients' social determinants of health needs (SDoH). Community health workers (CHWs) can support patients experiencing social needs, yet little is known about how rural and under-resourced primary care clinics are screening for SDoH or utilizing CHWs.

Methods: Interviews were conducted with primary care clinic providers and managers across a geographically large and predominately rural state to assess screening practices for SDoH and related community resources, and perspectives on using CHWs to address SDoH.

Memory and Traumatic Brain Injury: Assessment and Management Practices of Speech-Language Pathologists.

Purpose: Memory impairments are among the most commonly reported deficits and among the most frequent rehabilitation targets for individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Memory and learning are also critical for rehabilitation success and broader long-term outcomes. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) play a central role in memory management for individuals with TBI across the continuum of care.

Measurement of Sleep in Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury: Relationship Between Self-report and Actigraphy.

Objective: To examine the relationship between self-report and actigraphy measurement of sleep in people with and without traumatic brain injury (TBI) by addressing 2 aims: (1) to assess the relationship between self-report and actigraphy for sleep quantity in people with and without TBI; and (2) to explore how self-report and actigraphy capture sleep quality in TBI.

Setting: Participants completed the study over 2 weeks in their own homes. They wore activity monitors, day and night, throughout the experiment and completed morning sleep diaries while interacting with an experimenter on videoconference.

Determinants of targeted cancer therapy use in community oncology practice: a qualitative study using the Theoretical Domains Framework and Rummler-Brache process mapping.

Background: Precision medicine holds enormous potential to improve outcomes for cancer patients, offering improved rates of cancer control and quality of life. Not all patients who could benefit from targeted cancer therapy receive it, and some who may not benefit do receive targeted therapy. We sought to comprehensively identify determinants of targeted therapy use among community oncology programs, where most cancer patients receive their care.

Emotion recognition of faces and emoji in individuals with moderate-severe traumatic brain injury.

Background: Facial emotion recognition deficits are common after moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and linked to poor social outcomes. We examine whether emotion recognition deficits extend to facial expressions depicted by emoji.

Methods: Fifty-one individuals with moderate-severe TBI (25 female) and fifty-one neurotypical peers (26 female) viewed photos of human faces and emoji.

The growing gap: A study of sleep, encoding, and consolidation of new words in chronic traumatic brain injury.

Word learning is an iterative and dynamic process supported by multiple neural and cognitive systems. Converging evidence from behavioral, cellular, and systems neuroscience highlights sleep as an important support for memory and word learning over time. In many lab-based word learning experiments, participants encode and subsequently retrieve newly learned words in a single session.

Designing evidence-based support aids for social media access for individuals with moderate-severe traumatic brain injury: A preliminary acceptability study.

Background: Adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI) report significant barriers to using current social media platforms, including cognitive overload and challenges in interpreting social cues. Rehabilitation providers may be tasked with helping to address these barriers.

Objectives: To develop technological supports to increase social media accessibility for people with TBI-related cognitive impairments and to obtain preliminary data on the perceived acceptability, ease of use, and utility of proposed technology aids.

Word Learning as a Window to Memory and Rehabilitation Outcomes in Traumatic Brain Injury.

Purpose: The purpose of this viewpoint is to advocate for increased study of word learning abilities and word learning interventions in traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Method: We describe the word learning process and the unique opportunities afforded by studying each component and stage. Building on discussions at the 2022 International Cognitive-Communication Disorders Conference, we describe how word learning may underlie a variety of functional outcomes after TBI, making it a promising target for rehabilitation.

Mediators, Moderators, and Covariates: Matching Analysis Approach for Improved Precision in Cognitive-Communication Rehabilitation Research.

Purpose: The dual goals of this tutorial are (a) to increase awareness and use of mediation and moderation models in cognitive-communication rehabilitation research by describing options, benefits, and attainable analytic approaches for researchers with limited resources and sample sizes and (b) to describe how these findings may be interpreted for clinicians consuming research to inform clinical care.

Method: We highlight key insights from the social sciences literature pointing to the risks of common approaches to linear modeling, which may slow progress in clinical-translational research and reduce the clinical utility of our work. We discuss the potential of mediation and moderation analyses to reduce the research-to-practice gap and describe how researchers may begin to implement these models, even in smaller sample sizes.

Temporal order memory impairments in individuals with moderate-severe traumatic brain injury.

Introduction: Temporal order memory is a core cognitive function that underlies much of our behavior. The ability to bind together information within and across events, and to reconstruct that sequence of information, critically relies upon the hippocampal relational memory system. Recent work has suggested traumatic brain injury (TBI) may particularly impact hippocampally mediated relational memory.

The Value of Patient Registries to Advance Basic and Translational Research in the Area of Traumatic Brain Injury.

The number of individuals affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI) is growing globally. TBIs may cause a range of physical, cognitive, and psychiatric deficits that can negatively impact employment, academic attainment, community independence, and interpersonal relationships. Although there has been a significant decrease in the number of injury related deaths over the past several decades, there has been no corresponding reduction in injury related disability over the same time period.

Computer-Mediated Communication in Adults With and Without Moderate-to-Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: Survey of Social Media Use.

Background: Individuals with a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) report fewer social contacts, less social participation, and more social isolation than noninjured peers. Cognitive-communication disabilities may prevent individuals with TBI from accessing the opportunities for social connection afforded by computer-mediated communication, as individuals with TBI report lower overall usage of social media than noninjured peers and substantial challenges with accessibility and usability. Although adaptations for individuals with motor and sensory impairments exist to support social media use, there have been no parallel advances to support individuals with cognitive disabilities, such as those exhibited by some people with TBI.

Perceived barriers to the adoption of active surveillance in low-risk prostate cancer: a qualitative analysis of community and academic urologists.

Background: Clinical practice guidelines recommend active surveillance as the preferred treatment option for low-risk prostate cancer, but only a minority of eligible men receive active surveillance, and practice variation is substantial. The aim of this study is to describe barriers to urologists' recommendation of active surveillance in low-risk prostate cancer and explore variation of barriers by setting.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews among 22 practicing urologists, evenly distributed between academic and community practice.

Confidence and Training of Speech-Language Pathologists in Cognitive-Communication Disorders: Time to Rethink Graduate Education Models?

Purpose The purpose of this article is to highlight the need for increased focus on cognitive communication in North American speech-language pathology graduate education models. Method We describe key findings from a recent survey of acute care speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in the United States and expand upon the ensuing discussion at the 2020 International Cognitive-Communication Disorders Conference to consider some of the specific challenges of training for cognitive communication and make suggestions for rethinking how to prepare future clinicians to manage cognitive-communication disorders. Results Results from the survey of acute care SLPs indicated inconsistent confidence and training in managing cognitive-communication disorders.

Disability and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Survey of Individuals With Traumatic Brain Injury.

Objectives: To identify the consequences of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic for individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI), with particular attention to unique effects for individuals with chronic disability.

Design: Individuals with and without a history of TBI completed a web-based survey.

Setting: Participants were recruited from the Vanderbilt Brain Injury Patient Registry in Nashville, TN, and completed the survey from their homes between May and June 2020, during social distancing related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

What is the hold up?-Mixed-methods analysis of postoperative radiotherapy delay in head and neck cancer.

Background: Delays in postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) for head and neck cancer (HNC) increase the risk for recurrence and mortality. The multifactorial nature of delays calls for an in-depth understanding of potential contributors from the patient's and provider's perspectives. We sought to identify causes of delays in adjuvant radiotherapy initiation for HNC.

Traumatic brain injury in the acute care setting: assessment and management practices of speech-language pathologists.

Primary Objective: To characterize current knowledge, beliefs, confidence, and practice patterns of acute care speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in assessing and managing cognitive-communication disorders following traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Research Design: We developed an online survey to learn more about current TBI knowledge and practice patterns of acute care SLPs, with the goal of establishing a baseline upon which changes in SLP training and practice standards may be measured.

Methods And Procedures: We distributed the survey to 1800 SLPs in 18 states via postal mail, in addition to posting it to relevant online groups.

Relational Memory at Short and Long Delays in Individuals With Moderate-Severe Traumatic Brain Injury.

Memory deficits are a common and frequently-cited consequence of moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, we know less about how TBI influences relational memory, which allows the binding of the arbitrary elements of experience and the flexible use and recombination of relational representations in novel situations. Relational memory is of special interest for individuals with TBI, given the vulnerability of the hippocampus to injury mechanisms, as well as a growing body of literature establishing the role of relational memory in flexible and goal-directed behavior.