Jun 03, 2007 - 04:07:48 CDT
GRAND FORKS (AP) - A three-year, $354,000 federal grant will help coordinate services for North Dakotans with traumatic brain injuries and increase awareness of the condition.The money from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration was awarded to the state's Department of Human Services and will be administered by the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota.
A goal of the grant will be to develop brain injury training programs for teachers, physicians, veterans groups and other agencies that might encounter the condition, said Sue Offutt, the Center for Rural Health's associate director of operations.
Offutt said traumatic brain injuries often go undiagnosed because they are mistaken for another condition, such as depression or substance abuse in adults or a learning disability in children.
About 2 percent of the U.S. population has suffered a traumatic brain injury, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That translates to nearly 13,000 sufferers in North Dakota.
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