Disorders of Consciousness Task Force

MISSION

To advance scientific knowledge, develop standards of practice, and advocate for the appropriate care of persons with disordered consciousness. Projects developed fall under the umbrellas of clinical, research, advocacy, and education about this patient group.

JOIN THE TASK FORCE

Thank you for being a part of the BI-ISIG Disorders of Consciousness Task Force! We love that the ACRM attracts the most passionate interdisciplinary mix of rehabilitation pros from around the world. What an honor to collaborate with such driven individuals. We hope to meet with you at our upcoming networking group meeting to discuss current projects and opportunities for contribution and collaboration.

ACRM BI-ISIG Disorders of Consciousness Task Force Meeting

Join us to discuss the ACRM Annual Fall Conference & EXPO, Task Force updates, and new projects. We welcome your participation.

Save the date!

DATE: The First Tuesday of Each Month
TIME: 12:00pm ET 

Open Microsoft Teams or go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/join-a-meeting
Enter Meeting ID: 226 926 075 605 06
Click Join.
Enter the Passcode: e5Ui9r4U
Click Join Now to enter the meeting.

We hope to see you there!

CO-CHAIRS

PAST CHAIR

Risa Nakase-Richardson, PhD, FACRM

John Whyte, MD, PhD, FACRM

COLLABORATING ORGANIZATIONS

NIDILRR, the VA TBI Model System DOC Special Interest Group members, and the International Brain Injury Association (IBIA) collaborate on task force projects and monthly telephone calls.

ACRM BI-ISIG DoC Sig 2025 Projects and Collaborations

Education/Dissemination

1. BrainLine Family Education website, The Disorders of Consciousness Hub, is LIVE: https://www.brainline.org/dchub
   1. Updates in progress
2. Professional education to align with CARF DoC clinical program standards

Ongoing Projects

1. Post-traumatic Confusional State (PTCS) Pathophysiology Scoping Review: Manuscript Preparation
2. Projects leveraging TBI Model Systems Database
   1. Discharge disposition and outcome – submitted
   2. DRS Rasch analysis – analyses ongoing

Ongoing Collaborations

1. American College of Surgeons TBI Best Practice Guidelines 2 New Trauma Standards on Rehabilitation – published
2. American College of Surgeons TQIP TBI Best Practice Guidelines for TBI – published
3. Curing Coma Campaign
   1. DoC Common Data Elements complete and published
   2. COMPOSE study ongoing
   3. Care of Coma Patient – gap analysis
4. CARF DoC clinical program standards

ACRM BI-ISIG DoC Sig 2025 Publications and Accomplishments

Select Publications

1. Grady-Dominguez P; Kozlowski AJ; Cogan AM; O’Brien K; Bodien YG; Giacino JT; Mallinson T; Graham JE; Weaver JA. (In Press). A Novel Examination of the Impact of Time and Reliability on Minimal Detectable Differences Using the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
2. Weaver JA; Cogan AM; Pertsovskaya V; Bhandari P; Awan BZ; Lewis S; Hartman A; Maisano K; Harrod T; The Recovery of Consciousness Study Team; Bender Pape TL; Mallinson T. (In Press). Domains, Trends, and Uptake of Common Data Elements in Intervention Studies Focused on Recovery of Consciousness in Severe Brain Injury from 1986 to 2020: A Scoping Review. Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, DOI: 10.1016/j.apmr.2025.07.021
3. Golden K, Ketchum JM, Talley KG, Rabinowitz A, Juengst S, Dams-O’Connor K, Weaver JA, O’Neil-Pirozzi TM, Giacino JT, Bodien YG. (In Press). Level of disability dissociates from life satisfaction, participation, and psychosocial health after traumatic brain injury. Neurology
4. Gilmore N, Murtaugh BM, Bogdanova Y, Choo M, Faerman A, Giacino JT, Gonçalves JV, Hammond FL, O’Brian K, Rabinowitz AR, Shapiro-Rosenbaum A, Nakase-Richardson R, Bodien YG. Quality of Life and Psychological Health after Recovery from Disorders of Consciousness: A TBI Model Systems Study. J Neurotrauma. 2025. In Press,
5. Grady-Dominguez P; Mallinson T; Bender Pape T; Weaver JA. (2025). Comprehensibility in Measurement of Neurobehavioral Function in Disorders of Consciousness: Integrating Data Visualization and Change Indices for the Coma/Near-Coma Scale. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2025.07.019
6. Cogan AM; *Grady-Dominguez P; Dobson CG; Giacino JT; Bodien YG; O’Brien K; & Weaver JA. (2025). Association of patient characteristics with recovery in adults with disorders of consciousness. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, DOI: 10.1016/j.apmr.2025.04.011
7. Ø 2 ACRM BI-ISIG Travel Scholarships

2024 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Education/Dissemination

1. BrainLine Family Education website, The Disorders of Consciousness Hub, is LIVE: https://www.brainline.org/dchub

* Updates in progress

Ongoing Projects

1. Post-traumatic Confusional State (PTCS) Pathophysiology Scoping Review: Manuscript Preparation
2. Projects leveraging TBI Model Systems Database
   1. Discharge disposition and outcome – data analysis
   2. DoC patient-reported outcomes – data analysis
   3. DRS Rasch analysis – pending

Ongoing Collaborations

1. American College of Surgeons TBI Best Practice Guidelines 2 New Trauma Standards on Rehabilitation – published: https://www.facs.org/quality-programs/trauma/quality/verification-review-and-consultation-program/standards/
2. American College of Surgeons TQIP TBI Best Practice Guidelines for TBI – pending release in 2024
3. Curing Coma Campaign
   1. DoC Common Data Elements complete and published
   2. COMPOSE study ongoing
   3. Care of Coma Patient – gap analysis

Select Publications

1. Samuel B. Snider, Hansen Deng, Flora M. Hammond, Robert G. Kowalski, William C. Walker, Ross D. Zafonte, David O. Okonkwo, Joseph T. Giacino, Ava M. Puccio, Yelena G. Bodien. Quantifying the relationship between time to command-following and outcomes after TBI: the “1%” rule. Under Review
2. Weaver JA, Cogan AM, Kozlowski AJ, Grady-Dominguez P, O’Brien KA, Bodien YG, Graham J, Aichele S, Ford P, Kot T, Bender Pape TL, Mallinson T, Giacino JT. Interpreting Change in Disorders of Consciousness Using the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised. J Neurotrauma. 2024 Aug;41(15-16):e1996-e2008. doi: 10.1089/neu.2023.0567. PMC11386986.
   1. 7+ ACRM Annual Meeting presentations
   2. 2 ACRM BI-ISIG Travel Scholarships
   3. 1 BI-ISIG Grant

PUBLICATIONS

Snider S, Kowalski R, Hammond F, Izzy Saef, Shih S, Rovito C, Edlow BL, Zafonte R, Giacino JT, Bodien YB. Comparison of common outcome measures for assessing independence in patients diagnosed with disorders of consciousness: A Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems study. J Neurotrauma. 2022; PMCID pending. In Press

Golden K, Erler KS, Wong J, Giacino JT, Bodien YG. Should consistent command-following be added to the criteria for emergence from the minimally conscious state? Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2022 Apr 6:S0003-9993(22)00294-5. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2022.03.010.

Weaver JA, Cogan A, O’Brien K, Hansen P, Giacino J, Whyte J, Bender Pape T, van der Wees P, Mallinson T. Determining the Hierarchy of Coma Recovery Scale-Revised Rating Scale Categories and Alignment with Aspen Consensus Criteria for Patients with Brain Injury: A Rasch Analysis. J Neurotrauma. 2022

MSKTC Fact Sheet

Consumer Translation of the DoC Minimum Competency Recommendations (in progress)

The Facts About the Vegetative and Minimally Conscious States After Severe Brain Injury MSKTC Fact Sheet was updated in 2020 by John Whyte, MD, David Glazer, MD, Thomas Watanabe, MD, Joseph Giacino, PhD, and Amy Rosenbaum, PhD, in collaboration with the American Institutes for Research MSKTC.

An MSKTC Fact Sheet was developed by ACRM and TBIMS joint DOC members (led by Dr. Amy Rosenbaum) and is now available online (Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: What to Expect in the Trauma Center, Hospital, and Beyond).

An MSKTC Fact Sheet was developed by ACRM and TBIMS joint DOC members on Understanding Behavior Changes After TBI and is now available online (Understanding Behavior Changes after TBI | Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center (MSKTC)).