Future Directions in Rehabilitation of Brain Injured People

Abstract

Rehabilitation can be defined as a process whereby people who have been disabled by injury or disease regain their former abilities or, if full recovery is not possible, achieve their optimum physical, mental, social and vocational capacity. In either case the process should lead to eventual integration into an environment which is suited to the needs and capacities of each individual. If those of us working in rehabilitation are prepared to accept this definition then we must also recognise that almost all aspects of a patient’s life fall within our province. For neuropsychologists, this means accepting the fact that brain damaged people will be helped more if their specific problems are located within the wider context of their affected lives. Brain damaged people have bodies that may need rehabilitating, they have families with whom they must relate, they may have employment which they hope to continue, and, when they return to the community outside the rehabilitation unit, they will need to co-exist with others. In order to facilitate such goals, neuropsychologists will have to work in close collaboration with other members of rehabilitation teams.