Introduction to Traumatic Brain Injury Course

This course took place as a free open online course in 2019. The course has since been updated and accredited for CEUs/CPD points and is available for you to do at any time in Plus, it can be started and completed at any time that suits you. It is also available in French.

Course Information[edit | edit source]

  • Course Type - Free, Open, Online
  • Course Co-ordinators - Rachael Lowe, Naomi O'Reilly, Anna Ziemer, Wendy Walker
  • Institution - Physiopedia
  • About this course - This online course will develop knowledge of traumatic brain injury.
  • Who can take part- This course is aimed at physiotherapy and physical therapy professionals, clinicians, students and assistants; other interested health care professionals interested in this subject are more than welcome to participate. 
  • Date of course - 21 October - 30 November 2019
  • Time commitment - approximately 16 hours over 4 weeks (optional extra 8 hours)
  • Language - the course will be in English
  • Requirements - You will complete online learning activities, engage with additional resources, take part in the conversation online and complete the course evaluation.
  • Assessment - There will be a final quiz.
  • Awards - Plus completion certificate and CPD points. CEUs in the USA and in South Africa. (We don't know exact numbers yet!)

Quick Overview[edit | edit source]

  1. On Monday 14 October we will send by email and post here all the links you need to start the course.
  2. The course will be available through our online learning platform - Plus .
  3. The full TBI MOOC course title is "Introduction to Traumatic Brain Injury Programme"
  4. This programme is divided into four short courses, each being approximately 4 hours in length.
  5. Starting Monday 21 October, one course will be released each week for four weeks.
  6. You will get a certificate for each course completed.
  7. Once you have completed all four courses, if you are a full Plus member you will be able to submit an assignment to complete the full programme and receive the full programme certificate.
  8. The course will be available to complete for free until 17 November 2019. After this date full Plus members will be able to complete the full programme and refer back to any of the resources at any time in the future.
  9. From 18 November an optional 6 course programme on Concussion will be made available for full Plus members. This course can be completed at any time, in your own time.

The information page for this programme of courses can be viewed on Plus- Traumatic Brain Injury Programme The link for the individual programme courses will be made available here from 21 October.

Introduction[edit | edit source]

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is defined as a non-progressive injury to the brain, which occurred as a result of trauma. It occurs when an external force impacts the brain and is most often caused by a blow, bump, jolt or penetrating wound to the head. It has been estimated that traumatic brain injury affects over 54 to 60 million people annually leading to either hospitalisation or mortality with low and medium-income countries experiencing nearly three times more cases of traumatic brain injury than high income countries. It is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, with enormous economic consequences.

The presentation depends on the areas of the brain which have been damaged. Signs and symptoms may include loss of consciousness and issues with motor, cognitive, speech and language, vision and hearing function plus emotional and social issues. It is a complex pathology with many different clinical presentations and functional impairments, and best practice requires skills in assessment, treatment and rehabilitation. It is also associated with a risk of developing secondary conditions that can be debilitating and even life-threatening including deep vein thrombosis, urinary tract infections, osteoporosis, pressure ulcers, chronic pain, and respiratory complications. Acute care, rehabilitation services and ongoing health maintenance are essential for prevention and management of these conditions.

This course will provide an overview of physiotherapy practice relating to traumatic brain injury to develop a foundation of knowledge that will enable you to assess and treat individuals with acute and chronic impairment as a result of traumatic brain injury. The course will give you an understanding of the anatomy, structure, clinical presentation, assessment and management of traumatic brain injury based on the latest evidence available. Traumatic brain injury is a large topic area, and can be studied as an area of clinical specialism within physiotherapy, therefore this course is by no means exhaustive.

Aim[edit | edit source]

This course aims to provide a basic theoretical understanding of the management of traumatic brain injury in order to equip physiotherapists with sufficient knowledge to manage a person following a traumatic brain injury. This includes assessing impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions, setting appropriate goals of treatment, formulating an evidence-based treatment plan, implementing treatment and evaluating its success.

The global network formed through this course will allow for shared knowledge and experiences to support good health care and a better quality of life for individuals with a traumatic brain injury around the world.

Intended Audience[edit | edit source]

This course is aimed at physiotherapy and physical therapy professionals, clinicians, students and assistants; other interested health care professionals interested in this subject are more than welcome to participate. 

Learning Objectives[edit | edit source]

At the end of this course you will be able to:

  • Discuss the current burden of traumatic brain injury
  • Understand the risk factors and complex causes for traumatic brain injury
  • Understand and recognise the various clinical presentations of traumatic brain injury
  • Select appropriate assessment techniques and outcomes measures for traumatic brain injury
  • Evaluate the information gathered from the assessment of an individual with a traumatic brain injury in order to formulate a treatment plan
  • Demonstrate clinical reasoning when presented with impairments related to traumatic brain injury
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the range of therapeutic interventions for the management of traumatic brain injury
  • Critically analyse the literature related to traumatic brain injury assessment, management and rehabilitation

Course Structure[edit | edit source]

This course will be divided into 4 separate smaller courses. Each course can be done as a stand alone course and it is suggested (but not required) that each course be completed over the duration of approximately a week. Please note that no deadlines are applied and this programme of courses can be started and completed according to your own schedule. We expect the required elements of each course to take around 4-6 hours depending on your schedule and learning style. Additionally there are many optional resources provided and if you choose to review these the course could take significantly longer to complete.

It’s not going to be easy, we’ll expect you to work hard for your completion certificate! You won’t be sitting back and watching webinars, we’ll expect you to undertake reading tasks, complete quizzes, perform literature searches and other learning activities. You’ll need to reflect on your own experiences and make written contributions to the discussion forum. This forum is where we can learn from each other’s experiences and knowledge from all around the world! At the end of the course, when you have completed all of the required elements, you will be able to download a certificate of completion and 16 Plus points will be added to your personalised learning dashboard in Plus.

Course Outline[edit | edit source]

  • Section 1: Introduction to Traumatic Brain Injury; Epidemiology, Anatomy & Clinical Presentations
  • Section 2: Assessment of Traumatic Brain Injury including Outcome Measures
  • Section 3: Management of Traumatic Brain Injury including Clinical Guidelines
  • Section 4: Therapeutic Interventions for Traumatic Brain Injury
  • Section 5: Final Tasks (quiz, reflection and evaluation) and Optional Assignment (to complete the programme)
  • Section 6: Optional extra module on Concussion (additional time required)

Types of learning activity involved[edit | edit source]

Reading Physiopedia pages, journal articles, book chapters. Watching videos. Attempting quizzes. Participating in an international discussion forum.

Cost[edit | edit source]

This course was FREE when it first ran on October 2019!

Where[edit | edit source]

This is a completely online course which will take place in Physiopedia's complimentary e-learning platform Plus .

You will need need to set up a FREE trial account to access the course, you can do that here.

The course will become available on the Plus site on 21 October 2019, we place the link at the top of this page and also email it to you.

Time Commitment[edit | edit source]

Completing this course will involve approximately 16 hours of learning activities that can be completed online at any time that suits you. There are no specific times that you are required to be online.

Language[edit | edit source]

This course will be in English. Although participants will only require basic English skills (reading skills are more important than conversational skills). Participants will be encouraged to be respectful and empathetic to those for whom English is not their first language (e.g. in the discussion forum).

Accreditation, Assessment and Certification[edit | edit source]

The course will be accredited in 32 States in the USA, Australia and South Africa.

On the successful completion of this course each participant will be provided with a Plus Certificate of Completion and PP+ Points (our own Plus points which are equivalent to CPD Points/CEUs). These will be awarded provided you:

  1. Be part of the Physiopedia Plus Community Culture.
  2. Log as completed all the required learning activities.
  3. Actively and appropriately participate in the course discussions.
  4. Pass a final quiz with a score of 80% or more.
  5. Complete a course evaluation form.

Thanks![edit | edit source]

We would like to extend a massive thank you to the private donation that has contributed towards the funding for this course. The donors are individuals that wish to empower rehabilitation professionals all over the world to effectively manage people with traumatic brain injury.

Still Have Questions?[edit | edit source]

You may find the answer here!