Guest entry: Advocating for people who have traumatic brain injuries

A number of my students at Keuka College have been working on policy and advocacy projects that I wanted to share.  The students researched a topic of their interest, met with their legislators, and developed a broad action plan to increase awareness of their topics.  

 This information is provided courtesy of Ashlee Lytle, a graduate student who is interested in advocating for people who have traumatic brain injuries.  Under a current plan, transitioning this population to a managed care system will impact the quality of their care.


"As I am soon entering the profession of occupational therapy this May, I have become increasingly interested in the individuals that I will soon be providing services for. 

After researching information regarding traumatic brain injury, which is my area of interest, I came across the transition plan proposed by the Medicaid Redesign Team to remove the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) & Nursing Home Transition and Diversion (NHTD) waivers that currently exist and transition these services into Medicaid Managed Care. 

Placing individuals who have experienced a traumatic brain injury into the managed care system will jeopardize their frequency as well as quality of services available to them in the community. 

There is currently a bill in the Assembly awaiting approval to prevent this transition known as Bill A09397.

I strongly encourage those who are interested in advocating for these individuals to take a look at the info-graphic, located below, that was created to give you knowledge and resources to refer to in order to educate yourselves and understand the importance surrounding this issue. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this. 

Just try and remember that you can only make a difference if you try.

To see the info-graphic in your browser in a larger format, click on this link!"



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