Video telehealth program to improve thinking and community life for Veterans with chronic traumatic brain injury
Official title: Goal-oriented rehabilitation of executive functioning using video-telehealth to improve community reintegration for Veterans with chronic TBI and cognitive difficulties
Funded at Veterans Admin Palo Alto Health Care Sys · NIH-11246318 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This offers a video telehealth program that teaches goal-based thinking, attention, and memory strategies to help Veterans with long-term traumatic brain injury get back to work, school, and community activities.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Veterans Admin Palo Alto Health Care Sys NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Palo Alto, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 2026 |
| Project end | March 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| NIH project number | 1I01RD000680-01A2 |
| Project ID | NIH-11246318 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are Veterans with chronic traumatic brain injury who have ongoing cognitive difficulties and want to improve community reintegration and can participate in video telehealth sessions.
✕Less likely to help
Patients with very severe cognitive impairment that prevents following therapy, unstable medical or psychiatric conditions, or no reliable access to video telehealth technology may not benefit.
What this research studies
You would work with therapists over video sessions using the GOALS cognitive rehabilitation approach focused on the community goals you choose. The program teaches practical strategies for attention, planning, memory, and emotional regulation and includes practice in real-life tasks. This project adapts an in-person program that previously helped Veterans improve thinking and daily functioning so it can be delivered by telehealth. Progress will be tracked over time to see whether the telehealth version helps maintain improvements in everyday life.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could make evidence-based cognitive rehabilitation more accessible and help Veterans improve attention, planning, memory, and return to work, school, and community roles.
How similar studies have gone: Prior in-person GOALS programs for Veterans with TBI have shown significant improvements in attention, executive function, functional performance, and emotional regulation, while the telehealth version is a newer adaptation.
Where this research is happening
-
Veterans Admin Palo Alto Health Care Sys
Palo Alto, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Novakovic-Agopian, Tatjana — Veterans Admin Palo Alto Health Care Sys
- Study coordinator: Novakovic-Agopian, Tatjana
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.