Functional outcome: a case for mild traumatic brain injury

Abstract

The purpose of this case study was to demonstrate the successful incorporation of the strengths of process-specific and functional treatment approaches within a therapy programme for a patient with a MTBI. A patient with MTBI and deficits in attention, executive functioning, memory, reasoning and problem solving participated in a 4-month treatment programme. The interactions between the patient's cognitive deficits and problematic activities of daily living were identified. Treatment focused on teaching the patient compensatory strategies to offset the cognitive deficits following a cognitive framework within the context of hierarchically arranged activities of daily living. At the end of this programme, the patient consistently used his compensatory strategies to independently complete activities of daily living that were problematic prior to the receipt of treatment. Implications of this study for the treatment of patients with MTBI suggest that a combined approach is most beneficial in maximizing the recovery of these patients.

Randomised controlled clinical trial of a structured cognitive rehabilitation in patients with attention deficit following mild traumatic brain injury: study protocol

“…Currently, there is no standard cognitive rehabilitation treatment for mTBI population 19. The heterogeneity of cognitive deficits, varied intervention methodology, different reporting style and variable treatment outcomes,6 17 27 28 30–57 challenge professionals in standardising mTBI treatment 19. The early neuropsychological model of attention has already made the assumption that attention should be the focus of rehabilitation, even before more advanced cognitive skills are treated 33.…”

“…In the last 20 years, various cognitive treatment approaches have been reported in the systematic reviews 34–37. These include remediation strategies,38–49 compensatory strategies50–57 and patient education intervention 6 39 53 58. These approaches are usually applied in combination, in order to optimise both cognitive and functional recovery 17 27 28 30 31 33–38.…”

The lived experience of occupational adaptation following acquired brain injury for people living in a rural area

“…Rehabilitation after injury aims to help overcome and/or compensate for disabilities and to improve occupational functioning thereby enabling the person to participate as a valued member of their family and community. Functional outcomes (Sander, Roebuck, Struchen, Sherer & High, 2001;Walker, 2002) and community integration (Cicerone, Mott, Azulay & Friel, 2004) following brain injury have been well documented in occupational therapy literature, whereas the experiences of people with ABI responding to difficulties and solving problems after rehabilitation are still poorly understood, particularly from the perspective of the person with ABI.…”