FALLS CHURCH, Va. – Have you experienced a mild traumatic brain injury, or mTBI, also known as a concussion? The Defense Health Agency and Veterans Health Administration would like to hear from you. Together, they’re hosting a virtual focus group on Friday, March 20 at 1 p.m. ET, inviting patients to share their experiences living with and recovering from mTBI.

This initiative aims to learn directly from patients to help shape clinical practice guidelines for treatment across military and veteran communities.

“Our team is seeking any patient that has a diagnosis of mTBI—or had an alteration due to loss of consciousness, such as post-traumatic amnesia,” said Lynn Young, RN, BSN, CIC, Office of Evidence-Based Practice, Medical Affairs at the Defense Health Agency. “Sharing your experience will help inform discussions and generate inputs for the clinical practice guideline.”

Each focus group needs nine volunteers and lasts about two hours. Participants will provide feedback on a new clinical practice guideline for mTBI. The deadline to register is Thursday, March 12 at 5 p.m. ET.

Requirements

You can join if:

Your doctor diagnosed you with the condition related to the topic.
You’re at least 18 years old.
You get most of your care for this condition at a military hospital or clinic.

What you’ll do

During the virtual session, you’ll:

Discuss your experiences in a small group led by a facilitator
Review and comment on the final draft of the treatment guidelines

Note that your personally identifiable information won’t be included in the guideline.

How to register

Email the Defense Health Agency CPG Group mailbox at dha.ncr.medical-affairs.mbx.cqi-cpg@health.mil. Please put the focus group topic in your subject line.

Additional clinical practice guidelines on the following topics are also in development:

Chronic multiple system illness
Substance use disorders
Lower back pain

DHA will make another announcement once dates and times have been set.

You can join more than one focus group, but you must sign up for each one separately. Watch the TRICARE Newsroom for dates and sign-up deadlines for upcoming focus groups.

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