Using a paging system in the rehabilitation of encephalitic patients

Abstract

Memory and executive problems following encephalitis are common yet there are few published papers on the successful rehabilitation of such patients. We recently demonstrated (Wilson, Emslie, Quirk, & Evans, 2001; Wilson, Emslie, Quirk, Evans, & Watson, 2005) that a paging system could reduce the everyday memory and planning problems for people with non-progressive brain injury. Among the 143 patients who participated in the 2001 study were four people who had survived encephalitis. Their results are reported here. During a 2-week baseline, the successful task achievement of our four clients ranged from 2-81%. They then received a pager for 7 weeks and task achievement was documented in weeks 6 and 7. All were significantly more successful with the pager than they had been at baseline with success rates ranging from 45-96%. Five weeks after returning their pagers they were monitored once more. One of the encephalitic patients failed to achieve any of his target tasks, returning to baseline level, the other three dropped back a little but were still significantly more successful than at baseline. It is concluded that the paging system can reduce everyday memory and planning problems of patients with encephalitis.

An Evidence-Based Review of Cognitive Rehabilitation in Medical Conditions Affecting Cognitive Function

“…37 The use of a paging system for prospective memory tasks resulted in improved completion of target behaviors when using a pager, with reduced carryover without the pager, for 3 subjects. 40 These results, similar to those obtained with a comparable TBI group, supported the use of a pager for individuals with moderate to severe memory deficits. Use of a memory notebook was associated with improved memory management in 2 singlesubject studies, 38,39 the latter subject returning to her job 8 months postillness.…”

“…[37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44] Four case reports or single-subject studies 37-40 investigated either the use of external aids or strategies to improve memory performance. The use of a wearable camera that takes pictures automatically every 30 seconds was found to be more effective than a written diary in improving autobiographical recall for a woman with severe memory impairment, with carryover effects evident after 3 months.…”

Compensatory strategies for acquired disorders of memory and planning: differential effects of a paging system for patients with brain injury of traumatic versus cerebrovascular aetiology

“…This study has shown that a paging system is effective in compensating for the everyday memory and planning problems of a group of patients with brain injury of mixed cerebrovascular aetiology, and that these clinical benefits are of a similar magnitude to those reported for patients with memory problems following TBI21 and encephalitis 27. Participants typically showed a 30% increase in goal attainment with use of the pager.…”

A training apartment with a set of electronic memory aids for patients with cognitive problems

“…One of the reasons for this discrepancy might be that these patients might not primarily have memory impairments, but executive dysfunctions that are not captured by the RBMT. In a recent study by Emslie and colleagues (31), findings revealed that executive difficulties might affect treatment for using a pager. This indicated that it is important to assess executive functions in combination with an evaluation of compensatory aids.…”