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- Cazoshay MarieTBI AmbassadorRolePerson with TBILocationArizonaFun Facts
Cazoshay enjoys live theater, visual arts (as an artist herself), as well as live music such as the symphony. When in louder environments, Cazoshay brings special earplugs to help minimize the symptoms associated with TBI. She also loves everything food! Dining out, cooking, and entertaining are some of her favorite things to do. Cazoshay has a blog where she shares recipes as well as her experiences living with a TBI. She is active on social media (@cazoshay_marie on TikTok and Instagram) where she posts tips about living with TBI and other fun and elegant lifestyle content. She loves to read, and audiobooks have become a great way to enjoy the activity with minimal aggravation to her symptoms. Gardening is an activity Cazoshay has done all her life and she has learned how to modify her methods to accommodate for her TBI. Hailing from “The Last Frontier” (Alaska), Cazoshay has a pioneering spirit that has allowed her to press forward and think creatively as a public speaker, where she gets to enjoy not only sharing her story and advocating for the disability community, but to also have the pleasure of meeting so many different people from all walks of life.
Cazoshay’s Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Journey
On May 19th, 2017, Cazoshay was struck by a car traveling 48mph while crossing the street in downtown Phoenix. She sustained numerous injuries, some of which have had long-term effects, including a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Her life took a total “180”, and she had no idea how many challenges she would face with a TBI; everything from learning how to manage her symptoms to figuring out daily self-care and household management, all while caring for her son as a single mother. Through her speaking engagements and disability advocacy, Cazoshay has shared her story of living with TBI to encourage others and advocate for those in the disability community. Cazoshay has turned her TBI into a tool for good that she uses to reach out to people who need support. Her journey of living with TBI has informed her on how to teach others that they can still live a high-quality life, despite any limitations or negative circumstances they may find themselves in. Living with a TBI and sharing her story has proven to Cazoshay that your test can become your testimony.
What does Cazoshay think of the quality, usefulness, and user-friendliness of the MSKTC resources?
The MSKTC resources cover such a wide variety of topics that affect individuals living with traumatic brain injuries (TBI). They cover social and lifestyle issues, as well as specific cognitive and physical topics that people with TBI need to know. The site is very straightforward and user-friendly, which is so important for those living with TBI who are at various levels of being able to manage their symptoms. Cazoshay loves that the information is available in a variety of formats, including comics, making it accessible, entertaining, and memorable. Having newly discovered the MSKTC TBI resources, Cazoshay has been able to gain valuable insight, even several years after having acquired her own TBI. People will be able to use these resources to share not only with those who have TBIs but also with the community at large for all individuals to understand what TBI entails and how to best support those living with the condition. Another important and perhaps unforeseen aspect of usefulness that the MSKTC resources offer is a validation of the experiences that people with TBI face. The MSKTC resources show users that they are not alone and that their experiences are real and valid.
Why does Cazoshay want to be an MSKTC ambassador?
Cazoshay attended a virtual open house where she learned about the research and resources that MSKTC has available for individuals living with TBI. She was blown away at the amount of credible and relevant information available on the site in a variety of formats. As someone who has been involved in speaking for many organizations and at many events about TBI, she was excited to see that a comprehensive resource existed and knew immediately she wanted to get involved. The fact that MSKTC has considered so many of the numerous ways that TBI affects individuals and has created multiple ways to share that information on one site made her eager to want to be an ambassador and help spread the news that such a valuable resource exists.
What has Cazoshay done as an MSKTC ambassador?
As soon as Cazoshay attended the virtual open house, she immediately added a link for the MSKTC website to her bio site. When she was selected to be an MSKTC Ambassador, she also shared information about the site in the announcements she posted across her various networks. Cazoshay plans to use her social media outlets to share about MSKTC resources as well as reference them during her speaking engagements to refer more individuals back to the MSKTC. She has already received positive feedback from her community about the usefulness of the MSKTC resources and is looking forward to sharing even more.
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MSKTC SCIMS Email Signature
The Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center (MSKTC) has designed a Spinal Cord Injury Model System (SCIMS) email signature line image that you can use to promote the free research-based SCI resources on the MSKTC website.
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MSKTC TBIMS Email Signature
The Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center (MSKTC) has designed a Traumatic Brain Injury Model System (TBIMS) email signature line image that you can use to promote the free research-based TBI resources on the MSKTC website. Please download the instructions on how to add it to your email signature.
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Burn Injury Email Signature
The Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center (MSKTC) has designed a Burn Model System (BMS) email signature line image that you can use to promote the free research-based burn resources on the MSKTC website. Please download the instructions on how to add it to your email signature.
- Peggy ReisherTBI AmbassadorRoleMSW; Executive Director for Brain Injury Alliance of Nebraska (BIA-NE); Chair of USBIA Board of TrusteesLocationLincoln, NEFun Facts
For her whole life, Peggy has had the pleasure of confusing her family and friends with the appearance of her identical twin, Penny. Penny and Peggy grew up sharing friends, a car, a room, and many memories. Peggy said they did everything together for the first 18 years of their life, and it was because of this she learned to be a team player, consider other’s perspectives, and work to compromise when at all possible. That, and the general environment of “Nebraska Nice” she was raised in has helped form her into the friendly person she is today. To add to her warm and fuzzy personality, Peggy loves to bake, spend time with her family, and take her dog, Percy, for long walks.
Peggy Reisher’s Experience with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Peggy attained her master’s in social work in Nebraska but began her work with individuals with brain injury while living in Indianapolis, IN after graduate school. When Peggy moved back to NE, Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital hired her to serve as the social worker in their brain injury unit. There, she spent the next 14 years helping patients and their families find support and services as they prepared to discharge from the rehabilitation unit.
In 2009, the Nebraska Dept. of Education used HRSA funds to support the development of a new non-profit which became BIA-NE, an organization aimed at helping individuals with brain injuries rebuild their lives, restore purposeful living, and rebuild hope and optimism beyond the hospital walls. Initially, Peggy was the program director for BIA-NE and took over as the executive director in 2013.
For the first eleven years, BIA-NE only had funding for two to three full-time staff and a contract worker. A milestone was met in 2019 when, after Peggy and fellow advocates had been lobbying for ten years, the “Brain Injury Trust Fund” legislation was passed, providing financing for TBI support, and expanding the staff to eight. This dramatically improved the support that BIA-NE could provide for the TBI community.
In 2019 Peggy was asked to be on the board of the United States Brain Injury Alliance (USBIA), only to then end up chairing the board.
Today, Peggy strives to broaden the support given to individuals with brain injury across the state. She does this by building systems capacity. Areas of focus for Peggy and her team are those individuals who are at higher-risk of having a brain injury. That includes justice-involved individuals, victims of domestic violence, veterans, and the aging population. Peggy and her team offer brain injury training to community-based programs, encouraging programs to screen their clients for brain injury. Once they identify those who screen positive, they ask those programs to refer those individuals to their brain injury resource facilitators which they have across the state.
What does Peggy Reisher think of the quality, usefulness, and user-friendliness of the MSKTC resources?
The MSKTC resources fill the void that has existed for those looking for the best knowledge of how to deal with the symptoms of their TBI. Small organizations don’t have the means to create the content needed to best educate people within the TBI community, but thanks to MSKTC, they don’t need to. As Peggy’s organizations track information in their database, the consistent issue raised with people with TBI is a struggle to find the information they need. Fortunately, Peggy finds that she is regularly able to find the resources needed through the MSKTC website. The factsheets are such a powerful tool, and the continued translation of resources into Spanish is invaluable. Even the info-comics serve a huge role for those users who are not the strongest readers.
Why does Peggy Reisher want to be an MSKTC ambassador?
Peggy feels like she has already been playing the role of an ambassador, with how often she proselytizes MSKTC resources. Signing up with MSKTC and making it official only made sense.
What has Peggy Reisher done as an MSKTC ambassador?
In her efforts to improve the quality of knowledge, Peggy always follows up her presentation with linking to the relevant MSKTC resources. Considering she performs anywhere from 30-50 presentations annually, there are plenty of opportunities where she can platform MSKTC. In her communities, Peggy notes regular occurrences of people continuing to share MSKTC resources after she has introduced them to the site. Within BIA-NE her staff regularly share relevant resources with clients and the community at large, and Peggy will even share links via email or Zoom when they are relevant to the recipient’s needs.
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