No joke: Rehab services aren’t one-size-fits-all.
In fact, over 64 million people suffer from a traumatic brain injury every year. Each of those injuries are different.
But that’s not what most people assume…
They figure that brain injury rehabilitation services have to be cookie-cutter. A patient comes in. They pick a treatment plan off the shelf. That’s what you get.
It’s completely backwards…
The more you work with specialists who understand your unique injury, the more your treatment can target your specific needs.
Here’s what a personalized plan can do for you…
Here’s What To Expect:
- The Benefits of Custom Plans
- Why Generic Treatments Don’t Work
- Elements of Great Recovery Programs
- Maximizing Rehabilitation with Modern Medicine and Technology
- Setting Personalized Goals for Treatment
- Partnering with Your Providers
The Truth About Generic Treatments
Here’s a truth that many doctors don’t want to admit…
Not every traumatic brain injury is created equal.
The difference between a mild concussion and a severe head injury are vast. So your recovery plan needs to be.
The thing is, in order to develop a truly customized approach, your team first needs to identify and map out your individual injury and symptoms.
This could include finding areas of cognitive difficulty such as memory loss, processing speed, attention, communication, or executive dysfunction. Or, for more physical injuries, damage to motor skills.
These are all specific to your injury, and that’s why a personalized recovery program is so important. It’s about what you need in order to make your best recovery possible. Research shows that 79% of moderate to severe TBI survivors who receive proper rehabilitation achieve full or partial independence.
And a one-size-fits-all treatment program? You’re better off without it.
Ingredients for a Great Recovery Program
Ready to know what makes a good treatment program?
Custom recovery strategies are built by assessing your unique brain injury and related impairments. This includes providing detailed evaluations that not only analyze your current condition, but also develop a customized plan to address your symptoms.
Your recovery team might also use state-of-the-art technology to assess and track your improvement throughout the program.
Treatment can then be implemented and expanded based on your specific areas of need. This can involve one or more of the following areas of brain injury recovery:
Cognitive Rehabilitation: The primary areas of focus of brain injury rehabilitation are retraining the brain to improve memory, attention, executive function, and other cognitive tasks. Therapy will vary based on individual areas of difficulty and may include strategies for emotional and behavioral management.
Physical Therapy and Mobility: Many patients who have suffered traumatic brain injuries will also experience reduced mobility and balance. A strong program will include rehabilitation to address any physical needs.
Emotional and Psychological Support: Don’t think that mental health is separate from brain injury rehabilitation? Think again. Depression, anxiety, and other negative psychological impacts can be a common result of traumatic brain injury. Rehabilitation needs to be able to address these symptoms as well.
Speech and Communication Therapy: Another important component of cognitive and behavioral therapy after a brain injury is regaining speech and language skills that are necessary to succeed in the world. Patients may have to retrain their brains in order to improve their ability to communicate effectively.
The Future of Rehabilitation: Technology and Innovation
As you can probably guess, modern medicine is at the forefront of brain injury rehabilitation.
Innovative, personalized recovery programs offer a variety of ways to assist you in reaching your cognitive and physical goals. Here are just a few ways that cutting-edge rehabilitation services can improve your life:
Virtual Reality Training: VR systems allow patients to practice real-world tasks in a completely safe environment. Navigating a busy street? Crossing train tracks? Virtual reality allows you to do it all without ever putting yourself at risk. And a skilled brain injury team can help you use these tools to improve your safety and quality of life.
Brain-Computer Interfaces: You might have seen something like this on a medical drama. A patient can use brain activity to control a computer. Why is this good? The computer can provide immediate feedback and visualization of the brain at work. Patients can literally watch their neural processes and learn to train them for better outcomes.
Tele-rehabilitation: You don’t have to be able to get to the hospital every day to get effective treatment. Many rehabilitation teams are using video-based systems to let patients receive top-notch rehabilitation without having to physically be on-site. If you need regular therapy or can’t make it in to an office every day, this type of technology could be perfect for you.
Setting Your Personalized Goals
One of the most exciting parts of a personalized brain injury program is setting the goals that you would like to accomplish.
These goals don’t have to be massive and life-altering, although they certainly can be. A strong plan will take the time to get to know you as an individual, including a thorough understanding of your life before the accident.
What do you want to do with your life? To what extent has your brain injury affected you? What aspects of your life would you like to work on to recover some sense of normalcy?
Your rehabilitation program should include achievable milestones designed with these aspects in mind. Goals can be personal, like taking up a new hobby or being able to better communicate with your family. They can be physical as well, like regaining lost mobility.
The point is that any patient should be working with their care team to make sure that their recovery plan is directly connected to what they value in life.
You Are Your Own Perfect Recovery Partner
Maximizing your brain injury rehabilitation is really about being a partner with your providers.
The more your providers know about your specific situation and your goals, the more you can work with them to make sure that you are getting what you need.
The most important things you can do to contribute to your recovery include:
Researching a variety of programs to find the right fit: Be choosy about your care. Make sure that the team you end up with not only has the experience necessary to provide excellent care, but that they take the time to do an initial assessment of your individual needs.
Listening to the feedback you get from your treatment: The best rehabilitation programs know that recovery is a process. They don’t just focus on what’s wrong with you. They also focus on your positive progress and improvements to build your confidence.
Working to make the most of the support you have around you: Friends and family can be invaluable to you when you are injured. Having people you trust in your corner not only to keep you motivated, but they can be an extra support for the rehabilitation team in case you are struggling with any aspect of your recovery.
Get Ready to Live Your Life
Brain injury recovery takes time.
There’s no way around that. But what’s important is that you don’t do it alone. Partner with a top-notch rehabilitation team who understands your individual needs and who can help you get back to living life to its fullest.
It’s a journey. And with a personalized plan designed specifically for you, you’ll not only be able to get through recovery. You’ll be able to thrive.