Most rehab facilities specialize. Make sure to ask lots of questions to find the right one for you or your loved one.
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To find the right rehab, you have to ask a lot of questions and you have to
also kind of get an understanding of the fact that there are a large number of
brain injury rehabs, and all of them have their own specialties.
So, if your loved one has more physical problems--you know--maybe
their balance is off or their motor control is a little off, then they are going to need
a place that really works on physical therapy. But on the other hand, if, say, there are a lot of
challenging behaviors that come up after the injury but the person seems
physically fine, then you might be looking for more of a neuro-behavioral program
where they concentrate more on environmental changes and positive coping strategies
for dealing with these behavioral episodes. This kind of therapy kind of runs the gamut.
Unfortunately, very many states have very few comprehensive rehab facilities,
and so many people are forced to find services hundreds of miles away from home.
Produced by Victoria Tilney McDonough and Brian King, BrainLine.
Michael Paul Mason is the founding editor of This Land, a monthly magazine based in Tulsa. Mason's first book, Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath is an exploration into the harsh realities endured by people with brain injury survivors.
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Related Content
Audio/Video:
Dr. Nathan Zasler, an internationally respected physician specialist in brain injury care and rehabilitation, talks about what's important when choosing a rehab hospital for a loved one with TBI. This is an excerpt from BrainLine's webcast Caregiving and TBI: What You Need to Know. See full webcast here.- Choosing a Rehabilitation Hospital for Your Loved One
- Cognitive skills can be relearned with a structured rehab plan of strategies and repetition.
- The Effectiveness of Cognitive Rehabilitation
- Good care costs money and is predicated on the commitment to standard guidelines. Unfortunately, it varies greatly across the country.
- Quality of Emergency and Rehabilitation Care
- Rehab can run the gamut from residential nursing homes to vocational rehab instruction. Cost is often the biggest impediment, but there are resources to help.
- Options for Rehab After a Brain Injury
- Results from a neurospychological exam conducted soon after a TBI will help formulate the rehabilitiation plan.
- Early Neuropsych Evaluation Helps Formulate Rehab Plan
- When it comes to rehab after TBI, the earlier the better — and the more thorough, the better the outcome. Transcript of this video.
- When do you Begin the Rehab Process?
- Home healthcare for a loved one after TBI usually ends up being a creative "hodge-podge" of services.
- Finding Home Health Services After Brain Injury
Articles:
- Choosing a High-Quality Medical Rehabilitation Program
- What Determines Rehab Length of Stay After Brain Injury?
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- Who Are the Rehab Specialists?
Comments [2]
During the early stages of my injury, I was part of a rehab that did not work towards my individual goals. In my opinion a rehabilitation program should have the following: 1. the patient is the priority, the program should be tailored towards the client's goals or potential. 2. Compassionate medical providers (compassion goes beyond any technical expertise or college degree, many times the client might want just to talk, having somebody to listen when the client needs is extremely healing) 3. Promotes independence. 4. Triggers motivation in the patient (I fully understand that motivation goes both ways). 5. Expands the knowledge and understanding about the condition (this will prepare the client in terms of many of the things that come with the injury will be expected, the lack of knowledge brings the element of surprise every time something new happens) 6. Promotes a healthy and stable support network (this by including the families and understanding that the providers themselves become part of the client's support network). All I wrote here is based on my perspective and experience. I am not a medical professional and I am not pretending to be one. For more information on my point of view visit my pages at www.tbiwarrior.com or www.tbiwarriors.blogspot.com. Thanks.
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BrainLine.org is a WETA website funded by the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center through a contract with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation. Government funding support is not an endorsement of WETA or any of its products, including this website.
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Why do we continue to advocate that people "go away" to a facility? The more we send people away the harder it is for people to get home with the right supports. This is an early 80s model that persists today. Advocates need to promote and improve home and community based services and settle for nothing less. Janet Williams
Nov 1st, 2010 10:55pm