The Resilience and Recovery Program at George Washington: A Partnership between GW and MUSC

Recovery can be challenging after a serious accident or injury. The Resilience and Recovery Program at George Washington Hospital is designed to teach us how to care for patients’ emotional and behavioral needs after an injury.

Our team is testing a new model of healthcare for injury survivors to support them in their recovery. This study will help hospitals learn how to improve their quality of care to meet the needs of patients and families who have experienced serious injuries. The study includes the following journey:

Consent

Study team describes the project. If interested, you will sign a consent form. (15 min)

Initial Interview

Complete a 15-minute interview at the hospital.

Randomization

You are randomly placed in the TRRP or the Enhanced Usual Care group. About half of participants will be assigned to each group.

Intervention

Complete your treatment group. Treatment group options:

A) Enhanced Usual Care (EUC): Education & Referrals

Education & Referrals: Patients in EUC receive a handout on emotion recovery and if needed, referrals for mental health treatment

B) Trauma Resilience & Recovery Program (TRRP)

Bedside Intervention: Patients in TRRP receive brief intervention at the bedside to build skills for recovery and reduce distress
Symptom Monitoring: Patients have the option to enroll in an automated, 30-day, text-messaging system to monitor their recovery.
30-day screen & referrals: Patients are screened by for mental health concerns 30 days after injury and provide treatment referrals, if needed.

Follow-Up Interviews

Complete follow up telephone interviews (30 to 45 minutes) at 3-, 6-, and 12- months.

The Resilience and Recovery Program Study at George Washington Hospital focuses on patients’ emotional and behavioral recovery after they have experienced a traumatic injury. More than 20 percent of injury patients may experience depression or anxiety in the first year after injury. Our program is designed to help survivors:

Understand injury and emotional recovery
Track their symptoms and changes over time
Identify when they may need extra help.

Most patients in the US never receive emotional health screening or follow-up care after injury. In fact, few hospitals have programs that provide this. We are trying to change that by making sure that patients understand their recovery and are given education and best-practice treatment when they need it. Our goal is to accelerate mental health recovery by identifying and treating emotional and behavioral symptoms early in the recovery process.

Our initiative brings together leaders at The George Washington University Hospital (GW) and the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), including:

Ken Ruggiero, Ph.D., Professor and Director of TRRP at MUSC
Babak Sarani, M.D., FACS, FCCM, Director of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery at GW
Susan Kartiko, M.D., Ph.D., FACS, Assistant Professor of Surgery at GW
Hannah Espeleta, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at MUSC
Brandon Kohrt, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Global Health at GW
Bruce Crookes, M.D., Chief of Surgery at MUSC
Helaina Roisman, LICSW, GW Injury Prevention and Outreach Coordinator
Taylor Raffa, research assistant at GW
Gabriela Becerra, program coordinator at MUSC
Ebonie Powell, research assistant at MUSC
Ally Sciortino, research assistant at MUSC
Danyelle Dawson, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow at MUSC

Please contact Ebonie at gwrecovery@musc.edu or 202-599-6729 if you would like additional information about this initiative.