SENSE OF CONGRESS ON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS EFFORTS IN THE REHABILITATION AND REINTEGRATION OF VETERANS WITH TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY.

SEC. 1701. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS EFFORTS IN THE REHABILITATION AND REINTEGRATION OF VETERANS WITH TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY. It is the sense of Congress that—122 STAT. 486(1) the Department of Veterans Affairs is a leader in the field of traumatic brain injury care and coordination of such care;(2) the Department of Veterans Affairs should have the capacity and expertise to provide veterans who have a traumatic brain injury with patient-centered health care, rehabilitation, and community integration services that are comparable to or exceed similar care and services available to persons with such injuries in the academic and private sector;(3) rehabilitation for veterans who have a traumatic brain injury should be individualized, comprehensive, and interdisciplinary with the goals of optimizing the independence of such veterans and reintegrating them into their communities;(4) family support is integral to the rehabilitation and community reintegration of veterans who have sustained a traumatic brain injury, and the Department should provide the families of such veterans with education and support;(5) the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs have made efforts to provide a smooth transition of medical care and rehabilitative services to individuals as they transition from the health care system of the Department of Defense to that of the Department of Veterans Affairs, but more can be done to assist veterans and their families in the continuum of the rehabilitation, recovery, and reintegration of wounded or injured veterans into their communities;(6) in planning for rehabilitation and community reintegration of veterans who have a traumatic brain injury, it is necessary for the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide a system for life-long case management for such veterans; and(7) in such system for life-long case management, it is necessary to conduct outreach and to tailor specialized traumatic brain injury case management and outreach to the unique needs of veterans with traumatic brain injury who reside in urban and non-urban settings.