The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) was invited to join the Brain Injury Awareness Fair, which took place on March 12 on Capitol Hill. According to an APTA news release, APTA was invited to join in the event as part of Brain Injury Awareness Day and planned to use the opportunity to advocate for two bills on concussion and traumatic brain injury (TBI). The APTA news release notes that the group intended to share APTA’s consumer-oriented information on TBI and highlighted the association’s participation in the Joining Forces initiative.
In addition, the APTA news release indicates that the group planned to promote the passage of two pieces of legislation during the event: TBI Reauthorization Act (H.R. 1098) and the Protecting Student Athletes From Concussions Act (H.R. 3532). The TBI Reauthorization Act would continue to support for research and data collection on TBI by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The Protecting Student Athletes From Concussions Act would ensure school districts have concussion management plans that educate students, parents, and school personnel about how to recognize and respond to concussions, among other programs, as indicated on the APTA news release.
The advocacy work of APTA is part of a much larger strategy to educate legislators and the broader public on TBI and concussion. The association news release provides extensive resources to its members on the role of physical therapy in brain injury treatment and recovery. The group also offers a TBI webpage that includes continuing education courses and links to other interest groups. For more information, visit www.apta.org.
Source: APTA
