Category Archives: Miscellaneous

NJ Reopens Facility But Long-term TBI Care Residences Remain Limited Nationally

Healthcare worker helping man in wheelchair use keyboard for therapy

Congressman Tom Kean Jr. (NJ) recently helped reopen Complete Care at Willow Creek, the only long-term care facility for seniors with traumatic brain injuries in New Jersey. The Somerset County facility had closed after flood damage during Hurricane Ida nearly 5 years ago, followed by a fire. A terminated Medicare Provider Number threatened years of further delay. Kean’s office intervened, and the facility welcomed its first returning patient in August 2026. As Kean put it, “New Jersey’s seniors deserve access to the care they need.”.

Long-term facilities matter because severe TBI often requires round-the-clock skilled nursing, rehabilitation, and cognitive support that other house members can’t provide. While every state has general long-term care and nursing homes, specialized brain-injury facilities are comparatively rarer: Willow Creek is New Jersey’s sole option and, in total, only around 17 states provide specialized TBI-specific Medicaid waiver programs to fund long-term residential and group-home placements.

North Carolina’s New Four-Year Brain Injury Plan and Statewide Screening Tool

Diagram of OBISSS online brain injury screening and support system with five steps

North Carolina has launched a new statewide strategy to help residents living with traumatic brain injury. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced its 2026–2029 Traumatic Brain Injury State Action Plan on July 22, 2026; the plan officially took effect July 1. Developed by the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services alongside NC Medicaid, the Division of Public Health, and the Brain Injury Advisory Council, it centers on four priorities: expanding access to services, strengthening provider support, bolstering resources for people with TBI and their caregivers, and equipping communities to prevent injuries.

“Really listening to those most impacted by TBI was essential to developing strategies that will improve their quality of life,” said Kelly Crosbie, assistant secretary for mental health, developmental disabilities and substance use services.

The need is significant. In 2024, roughly 8,260 North Carolinians were hospitalized for TBI, more than 32,000 visited emergency departments, and 2,668 died from TBI-related causes, with falls the leading cause.

One of the plan’s first initiatives, the Online Brain Injury Screening & Support System (OBISSS), goes live August 1. Created by the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators, this free and confidential tool identifies an individual’s exposure to brain injury.

Protecting & Rejuvenating Brains at the Pool This Summer

Three children playing and splashing in ocean waves at the beach
Swimmer diving into outdoor pool lane 4 with splash

On June 24, 2026, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission released new data on child drowning. An average of 376 children under 15 died in pool and spa incidents each year from 2021 to 2023. Of these fatalities, nearly 80% of the victims are under age five, and more than 70% of incidents at residential homes.

Less visible are the roughly 8,000 nonfatal drownings annually, as both adult and youth survivors of such incidents can sustain lasting brain damage. Diving adds a second summer hazard, particularly head-first impact in shallow water drives force straight through the neck.

While these numbers may cause worry, time in the water can safely stay one of the best parts of the summer by following some rules, including:

  1. Assign a sober “water watcher”
  2. Install four-sided fencing with self-latching gates
  3. Enroll children in swimming lessons
  4. Learn CPR
  5. Enter unfamiliar water feet-first
Woman performing water exercise with therapist assistance in swimming pool

On the other side of the spectrum, for those in recovery from a brain injury, aquatic therapy (AT) is a highly recognized form of treatment. A 2020 PubMed-available study found that “the use of AT during post-acute phase to improve motor functions and quality of life in patients with s[evere]TBI.” In March 2026, a new in-depth review of this subject was published on PubMed: Aquatic Therapy as a Programmable Multisensory Environment for Arousal and Postural Control After Severe Acquired Brain Injury.

Laughter May Be the Brain’s Best Medicine

Man and woman laughing with a therapy dog wearing a Doctor Bark vest

After a car accident in 2023, the therapists of a brain injured 19-year-old Kansas teen had an unconventional tool ready: dad jokes. The groan-worthy punchlines weren’t just comic relief, they were medicine. And a growing body of science backs that up.

Research indexed in the National Library of Medicine confirms that laughter triggers real, measurable changes in the injured brain. A 2023 PLOS ONE meta-analysis found that a single bout of spontaneous laughter slashes cortisol, the body’s chief stress hormone, by up to 36.7%. Since high cortisol after TBI is linked to poorer survival outcomes, anything that lessens it matters enormously. A 2017 PET-imaging study in the Journal of Neuroscience showed that laughing with others floods the brain’s reward centers with natural opioids, promoting calm and connection.

New 2026 research adds another dimension. A comprehensive neurodevelopmental analysis published in May 2026 found that processing humor is genuinely cognitively demanding – activating working memory and the frontal lobes in ways that stimulate neuroplasticity, essentially giving the recovering brain a workout. Separately, a University of Vienna brain-scanning study published in January 2026 in Frontiers in Neuroscience, and available in the National Library of Medicine database, found that laughter behavior directly predicted bonding, pro-sociality, and social liking between people – outcomes that matter deeply to TBI survivors rebuilding their lives.

As vis turns out, the best medicine may truly be free.

Honoring Congressman Pascrell’s Brain Injury Legacy

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce voted 43-0, to advance H.R. 1493 on May 21, 2026. Introduced by Representative Frank Pallone (NJ), alongside a bipartisan list of original co-sponsors Rob Menendez (NJ), Don Bacon (NE), and Dan Crenshaw (TX)*, the bill would both reauthorize and expand important federal programs related to traumatic brain injury and retitle the CDC’s national TBI surveillance and registry program; as proposed, the program would be known as The Bill Pascrell, Jr., national program for traumatic brain injury surveillance and registries.

The naming is fitting. The late New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell was a fierce advocate for the brain injury community. Over 20 years, he urged Congress and federal agencies to confront issues related to brain injury, which he frequently described as America’s “silent epidemic”. In 2001, he co-founded the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force.

The unanimous bipartisan vote proves that both parties recognize Pascrell’s irreplaceable contributions to millions of Americans living with brain injuries.

* The bill has since gained an additional 3 bipartisan co-sponsors: Christopher Deluzio (PA), John H. Rutherford (FL), Eugene Simon Vindman (VA).

Kansas Official Honored for Championing Brain Injury Survivors

On April 17, 2026, Kansas Secretary of the Department for Aging and Disability Services Laura Howard was named the 2026 Brain Injury Champion for her work that has helped thousands of families in the State navigate life after a brain injury. Howard was recognized at the Brain Injury Association of Kansas & Greater Kansas City Annual Professional Conference in Topeka, a distinction that places her at the center of one of the most important disability policy conversations in the State.

As a gubernatorially-appointed cabinet secretary, Howard oversees Kansas’s Medicaid Brain Injury Waiver, a program that funds rehabilitation support for brain injury survivors. Under her leadership, the waiver was expanded to cover a broader range of injuries and now includes children under 16, nearly doubling the number of people it helps. Even Kansas Governor Laura Kelly took notice, publicly praising Howard’s “commitment to supporting Kansans with brain injuries and improving access to care.”

VA Health Care Uses New Treatment Tech to Bring Silence

Lenire tinnitus therapy device with handheld control, headphones, and tongue stimulator

For many, a brain injury doesn’t end when the wound heals. One of its most persistent aftereffects of brain injury is tinnitus, a relentless ringing, buzzing, or hissing in the ears that no one else can hear. Scientifically. when the brain sustains trauma, the auditory pathways that process sound can become dysregulated, causing the nervous system to essentially generate phantom noise around the clock. Affecting up to 53% of people who sustain traumatic brain injury, tinnitus is not just annoying, it can fuel anxiety, disrupt sleep, and greatly erode quality of life.

Tinnitus is also the leading service-connected disability among veterans. Up to three-quarters of veterans with a brain injury, especially blast-induced brain injuries, will develop tinnitus. In response, a major new treatment is in development: “The Atlanta VA Health Care System marked a significant milestone in Veteran care on April 2, 2026, with the first use of the Lenire tinnitus treatment technology,” reported the Office of Veterans Affairs. FDA-cleared, the Lenire treatment is a bimodal neuromodulation device that stimulates both the tongue and the ears simultaneously to retrain the brain’s response to tinnitus. Rather than masking the phantom sound, it targets the neurological root of the problem.

Neuromod Devices, the medtech company behind the Lenire treatment, states their device is “Effective, Safe and Calming”. For veterans and others who have long suffered, this launch may mean real relief is finally within reach.

Generation Alpha’s Trending Trauma

Speaker presenting to attentive diverse audience about online safety and 'Blackout Challenge' risks and prevention

In February 2026, nine-year-old JackLynn Blackwell died in her Stephenville, Texas backyard with a cord around her neck after seeing the “blackout challenge” online. A repackaging of the “choking game” that was first catalogued by the CDC in 2008, the blackout challenge is causing yourself to pass out. (This, in turn, causes “permanent, irreversible brain damage”.) It exploded on TikTok in 2021, as the For You algorithm began pushing self-strangulation videos to young users chasing a brief euphoric high from cerebral hypoxia. The trend has shown its lasting power: In South Orange Middle School in New Jersey, two students passed out after engaging in the challenge in 2024.

The blackout challenge has been noticed by politicians: on October 8, 2024, a bipartisan coalition of 14 attorney generals filed separate enforcement actions. “TikTok claims that their platform is safe for young people … [but] young people have died or gotten injured doing dangerous TikTok challenges,” remarked the group’s co-leader Letitia James (NY). In a March 23, 2026 press release, Congressman Jimmy Patronis (FL) stated, “As a parent, I cannot ignore the very real danger [the blackout challenge] poses to our children. Too many families have already suffered unimaginable loss.”  

Beyond concern, this childhood “thrill-seeking” has prompted some schools to take action. In New York, New Jersey and other states, schools have issued parental advisories in an attempt to protect children’s developmentally immature brains. One can hope that this trend is waning in popularity, and will soon be remembered only as an unfortunate episode in Generation Alpha’s past.

Tax Day Challenge for the Brain Injured

Tax documents, calculator, coffee mug labeled 'TAX SEASON', and April 2026 calendar showing Tax Day on the 15th.

Tax Day is stressful for nearly everyone, but the pressure can be particularly harmful for brain injury survivors. A 2024 study in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation found that 70% of adults with acquired brain injury said their injury affected their ability to handle financial tasks, and 58% felt stressed or anxious about finances. Stress is, of course, a known trigger for neurological symptoms.

According to statistics, prior to injury, 82% of TBI survivors were employed, meaning most were taxpayers. Two years post-injury, 60.4% of moderate-to-severe TBI survivors are unemployed, according to a one study available of PubMed. Many of those who remain employed still struggle cognitively with complex tasks. Tax filing is assuredly a complex task, regardless of brain injury statis.

For brain injury survivors who cannot manage the process alone, but cannot afford professional help, the Internal Revenue Service has many free resources to provide assistance (https://www.usa.gov/help-filing-taxes). “The VITA grant program is an IRS initiative designed to support free tax preparation service for the underserved through various partner organizations.” Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE), “focuses on questions about pensions and retirement-related issues.” Additionally, the IRS Free File provides guided software and fillable forms, available if your adjusted gross income is $84,000 or less. For military service members, MilTax offers free tax assistance.

Congress Has Been Flying Blind on Veteran Brain Injury Spending for Years

Shiny golden dollar sign with stacks of bills and coins behind

The Special Disabilities Capacity Report is Congress’s primary tool for deciding how much to invest in VA’s TBI treatment infrastructure. If the numbers feeding that decision are wrong, the veterans who depend on that care pay the price.

A February 2026 review by the VA Office of Inspector General revealed that in FY 2023, the VA reported the wrong financial data for traumatic brain injury, using obligations rather than actual expenditures, thereby overstating actual TBI spending. More so, they failed to report TBI spending at both the geographic service area and national levels as required by law. The DVA Office of Inspector General’s Report 25-01863-31 also determined that VA’s capacity data did not capture community care services or the extent to which bed capacity was used at its specialized rehabilitation centers.

Pointedly, these data errors are the same as those that have been flagged in prior years. This raises questions about whether Congress receives an accurate picture of VA’s TBI treatment infrastructure. As Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Chairwoman of the House VA Health Subcommittee, stated at a March 2026 oversight hearing: “Wrong data takes resources away from [other] areas of need.”