The Injury You Can’t See Shouldn’t Be the One That Steals Your Life

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Heads Up Vet Brain Health Check-In

Many Veterans carry impact long after the mission ends, head hits, blast exposure, training collisions, “it was nothing” moments. Years later, the symptoms show up… and most people never connect the dots.

Community is the missing link in early brain health detection.

HEADS UP VET™ is a national coalition convened by Veterans Collaborative, to improve awareness, pathways to care, and community support for Veterans and families living with undiagnosed head injury.

We’ve built a “Veteran Passport to Connected Resources” through three focus areas:

1) Awareness & Education that assists veterans, families, and providers in recognizing signs of head injury.

2) Early Brain Health Awareness Check-In that help Veterans better understand brain health without shame or guesswork.

3) RADAR Resource Navigation that connects Veterans and families to trusted local organizations and services that can actually help.

And we don’t build this alone. The HEADS UP VET™ model connects:
community organizations, technology & referrals, clinical & innovation partners, and funders/philanthropy because this problem requires a whole-network response.

Because The Most Dangerous Injuries Are the Ones That Go Undetected

Head injury doesn’t always look like a dramatic moment.

Sometimes it’s cumulative impacts during military service, stacking over time.

The challenge is brutal and clear:

1 in 3 Post-9/11 Veterans experienced TBI
Most head injuries go undetected for years
56% higher suicide risk for Veterans with TBI
36+ symptoms can surface years after impact/exposure
0+ referral triggers for subconcussive events with no loss of consciousness outside of clinical specialty

Often, Veterans do what they’ve always done: Push through. Adapt. Perform.
Until “pushing through” becomes a crisis.

Because the First Place Veterans Turn Isn’t a System, It’s a Person.

Brain health is finally being recognized as critical to long-term well-being and readiness… yet many Veterans still never receive early screening or real awareness of what head injury can look like.

And the care pathways? They’re complicated.

Here’s what we’ve learned - Community organizations are the missing link.
Most Veterans don’t start with a specialist. They start with what they trust - local community organizations and direct service groups.

But those entry points are often under-resourced and are not always equipped with the tools, education, and referral pathways to catch brain health issues early.

HEADS UP VET™ takes a different approach.

We are investing directly in community-based organizations — equipping them with:

Brain health awareness and education tools
Early self-recognition pathways
Clear referral connections to supportive care
Technology and data infrastructure to strengthen capacity and navigation

“Veterans Collaborative, through HEADS UP VET™ and our various programs that increase access to local support and opportunity, is committed to strengthening local partnerships that recognize and respond to brain health challenges earlier so Veterans and families can move from uncertainty to clear next steps with fewer barriers.”

Natalie Worthan, Founder & CEO Veterans Collaborative
"One of the things we did early on was to codify a list of 15 tier-one weapons that the military departments told us were used most often and by those with higher risk occupational specialties. We categorized 15 weapon systems and found out everything we could about them in terms of blast overpressure and brain effects. We also looked at how the duration and frequency of use affects an individual warfighter. We were able to see what the symptoms reports were, and what type of cognitive or thinking changes occurred. This type of work had been done before but at looking at lung and hearing issues not on brain health effects."

Kathy Lee, Director, Warfighter Brain Health Initiative
Dec. 20, 2023 | By Ken Cornwell, MHS Communications
“Blast overpressure is an external force with an impact not just on the brain but on the body. We take this as a serious traumatic brain injury and want to do everything we can to provide appropriate clinical support and management of those patients from a medical standpoint.”

Lt. Col. Thomas Bayuk, Neurologist and Traumatic Brain Injury Consultant to the Air Force Surgeon General
Air Force medical leaders partner with joint forces, DoD researchers on Warfighter Brain Health Initiative
Published May 19, 2025 I By Maristela Romero I Air Force Surgeon General Public Affairs
“The men and women who served our country deserve access to the best care available, especially when it comes to invisible injuries like traumatic brain injury. The BEACON Act strengthens the VA’s ability to deliver modern, effective care by bringing proven innovation, academic expertise, and community partnerships to the table, while supporting the important work the VA is already doing.”

Reps. Jack Bergman
Bergman, Elfreth Introduce BEACON Act to Expand Innovative Care for Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury

Veterans Collaborative™ exists to strengthen accessibility to vital support and opportunity through centralized networks so help is local, reachable, and trusted. HEADS UP VET™ is an extension of what we do best: building bridges between the people who need support and the ecosystems that can deliver it without making Veterans carry the burden of coordination.‍ ‍

We don’t just care about awareness. We care about the moment awareness becomes action in real communities.

We Know How to Build Community-Based Access That Works

Because Waiting Costs Lives and

Time Is a Trigger

Led by Experts. Guided by Leadership.

Head injuries don’t always announce themselves.

But this is a moment of opportunity- where awareness is rising, research is being operationalized, and the community front line is a part of the solution.

This work requires more than recognition. It requires leadership.

Not from the sidelines — but from those willing to step forward, align across sectors, and build solutions alongside the communities we serve.

HEADS UP VET™ is guided by leaders who are doing exactly that.

Meet the HEADS UP VET™ Advisory Team