18 year old Susie sustained a serious head injury after being hit by a car as she was walking across the street. She sustained a permanent brain injury resulting in short and long term memory loss, speech impairment and impaired judgment. Her life changed that day, and her recovery and rehabilitation efforts were critical. CBLAW assembled a team of medical and rehabilitation experts to help Susie on her road to recovery and ensure that she received all the services she required and financial support to help her get her dignity back. The following is a short description of medical and rehabilitation services drawn upon after a person sustains a brain injury.

By Joseph Caprara of CBLAW posted in Brain Injuries on Thursday, July 19, 2012.

A Head Injury Story

18 year old Susie sustained a serious head injury after being hit by a car as she was walking across the street. She sustained a permanent brain injury resulting in short and long term memory loss, speech impairment and impaired judgment. Her life changed that day, and her recovery and rehabilitation efforts were critical. CBLAW assembled a team of medical and rehabilitation experts to help Susie on her road to recovery and ensure that she received all the services she required and financial support to help her get her dignity back. The following is a short description of medical and rehabilitation services drawn upon after a person sustains a brain injury.

Brain Injury Rehabilitation

Brain injury rehabilitation draws on a number of healthcare professionals. Rehabilitation care provides specialized rehabilitation programs and has specific goals, which include the following:

Stabilize the medical care and issues around rehabilitation for all injuries incurred due to brain injury
To avoid additional complications beyond the initial injury, such as pneumonia and pressure sores
Restore any functions that were damaged or lost, such as motor skills, speech, and cognitive functions
Utilize adaptive tools and approaches to increase independence
Discuss with the patient and to their family the patient’s conditions as well as the adjustments that they need to make in order to cope with the rehabilitation

Daily activities in traumatic brain injury rehabilitation generally involve re-learning simple tasks like getting out of bed, brushing teeth, eating meals, and walking. The brain injury rehabilitation team incorporates the following professionals and each of them has a unique area of specialty:

1. Physiatrist – A physician specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation. The physiatrist acts as the team leader and deals with various aspects of rehabilitation such as assessment, prescription of treatment, and directing other members of the team.

2. Neuropsychologist – A neuropsychologist is a licensed psychologist with expertise in how behavior and skills are related to brain structures and systems. The neuropsychologist assesses changes in a brain injury patient’s behavior and thinking, such as:

Speaking challenges
Communication dysfunction
Being overly impulsive
Making poor decisions
Difficulty concentrating
Loss of memory

3. Rehabilitation Nurse – A rehabilitation nurse helps patients achieve improved health and adapt to a changed lifestyle post-injury. Rehabilitation nurses begin to work with individuals and their families soon after the onset of a disabling injury. They focus on:

Nutrition
Pain
Sleep disruption
Mobility
Bladder and bowel incontinence
Self care
Communication, comprehension, and cognition
Sexual dysfunction

4. Physical Therapist – A physical therapist deals with orthopedic problems, including knee injuries, low back pain, or other pain areas. In traumatic brain injury rehabilitation, the goal of the physical therapist is to lessen as well as surmount any possible paralyzing effects due to the brain injury. The physical therapist treats musculoskeletal and neuromuscular problems that affect motor skills and assists the patient to be able to function again. The physical therapist assesses the patient’s:

Posture
Strength
Balance
Degree and quality of movement
Coordination
Pain management
Need for support such as cane, brace, or wheelchair

5. Occupational Therapist – An occupational therapist determines function and possible problems connected with daily living skills, vision, perception, cognition, and upper extremity movement. The occupational therapist works with the brain injury patient to adapt to typical lifestyle functions like dressing and showering. The occupational therapist also prepares the patient for skills needed when returning home, such as:

Grocery shopping
Cooking
Banking
Personal hygiene
Returning to work

Rehabilitation is a philosophy of care, not a work setting or a phase of treatment. Every day, traumatic brain injury rehabilitation involves one or more members of the team to help the patient return to as normal a life as possible.

We use case managers to help co-ordinate services and to establish proper communication among all healthcare providers and our legal team. At times the occupational therapist can assume both roles.

We can help organize many services required for you to live more independently. The trauma lawyers at CAPRARA BARRISTERS handle and take numerous lawsuits to trial involving traumatic brain injury and other personal injury cases. If you would like to learn more about compensation for pain and suffering, wage loss and medical care resulting from a car accident, a sport injury, or medical malpractice or fall, feel free to call us and speak to a member of our trauma trial lawyers.

Joseph Caprara