Hoosier Researchers Receive $2.5M For Trauma Recovery
Image (left) of Ben Zarzaur provided by Eskenazi Health
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowResearchers at Indiana University and the Regenstrief Institute are testing a new collaborative care model designed to help patients over the age of 50 fully recover from injury. Work on the Trauma Medical Home model has received a five-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Institute on Aging.
The researchers say the majority of the estimated 1.4 million Americans over the age of 50 who are hospitalized each year for injury have the potential to recover and again reach their full potential, but a large percentage do not. The Trauma Medical Home model is being studied by co-principal investigators Ben Zarzaur and Malaz Boustani.
Zarzaur says "individuals with moderate to severe non-neurological injuries — people without brain or spinal cord injuries — can recover in a dramatic fashion but they need support not typically provided by the U.S. health care system. With the Trauma Medical Home collaborative care model we are continually assessing where the trauma patient is on his or her physical and psychological health recovery trajectories, evaluating and helping them return to their previous health baseline in coordination with their primary care physician."
They say the model fills a major gap in health care. It involves a team made up of a care coordinator, trauma surgeon, intensive care physician and other clinicians that work with the patient’s primary care physician. Services including home visits and bi-weekly or as-needed reviews are conducted once the patient leaves the hospital.
You can connect to more about the model and the grant by clicking here.