Name
#28 A revamped brain wellness intensive outpatient program for service members with symptoms persisting after history of concussion
Content Presented On Behalf Of:
DHA
Session Type
Poster
Date
Tuesday, March 3, 2026
Start Time
5:00 PM
End Time
7:00 PM
Location
Prince Georges Expo Hall E
Focus Areas/Topics
Clinical Care
Learning Outcomes
Following this session, the attendee will be able to:

1. Describe ISC interdisciplinary model of care, highlighted within a formal intensive outpatient program, as well as ISC-FB 6-pillared lifestyle medicine approach for brain health, with awareness of modifiable lifestyle factors as supporters of health or drivers of disease.
2. Appreciate the value of collaboration and partnership with community resources in optimizing health behavior change, as well as creating point of transition and carryover after IOP discharge and subsequent boots on ground implementation and carry forward of knowledge, skills, and capability/tools for brain wellness.
3. Understand utilization of community resources helps manage clinic resources and provider care/self-care.
Session Currently Live
Description
Between 2000-2025 Q1, there have been 518,116 reports of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the Department of Defense. Additionally, service members who deployed and reported one or multiple incidents of a mild TBI (mTBI) continue to serve and may only present for medical care towards the end of their career. The rates of chronic disease in service members are higher than that of their civilian counterparts. Many aspects of military life may contribute to this including the physical toll of military service on an individual’s body, chronic stress due to deployments and operational tempo, and chronic poor sleep related to long hours and shift work. The typical patient seen at Intrepid Spirit Center at Ft. Belvoir (ISC FB) may report cognitive decline and often attributes it to a remote history of one or multiple mTBI events. While mTBI is a precipitating event (or multiple events with multiple precipitating episodes), most patients also report years of poor sleep, poor diet, pain often resulting in decreased activity, stress, and lack of connection with bidirectional impact of lifestyle and phenotypic expression brain and body health through signs and symptoms. Evidence supports the role of the interdisciplinary team in the treatment of symptoms persisting after concussion. At ISC FB, this knowledge informs the development of individualized interdisciplinary treatment plans. Foundational to the ISC FB model is the Six Pillars of Brain Health: Sleep, Nutrition, Pain Management, Physical Movement, Resiliency, and Connectedness. Framing an individualized interdisciplinary treatment plan in the context of modifiable lifestyle factors allows patients to gain control of their health and to make choices that can influence their current and future health with the goal of optimizing brain/body health and enhancing performance. Starting in the fall of 2025, ISC FB started a new iteration of our Brain Wellness Program 2.0, moving from a 2-week program focused on individual rehabilitation appointments and behavioral health (BH) psychoeducation classes/groups to a 5-week intensive outpatient program comprised of both individual and group encounters across rehabilitation and BH. Addressing lifestyle change and prioritizing health behavior change is facilitated through various modalities, to include motivational interviewing techniques and practical application. Without formally certified health coaches dedicated to this core component, ISC-FB utilized available community resources to support.