The brain injury rehabilitation journey

Dear Family-Whānau Member,

If you are reading this, it is likely that someone close to you – a son, daughter, brother, sister, wife, husband, loved one or close friend – has experienced a tragedy. Life has changed for the family-whānau. This may be the most stressful time of your life.

It is our goal to help your family member make as full a recovery as possible. We need your help to make this happen.

Find out how you can help.

Living, loving and doing!

Rehabilitation is part of the recovery process after brain injury or stroke. The person and family will personalise the goals but for our team, it is always about getting back to as full a life as possible – living, loving and doing; work, sports, family and friends.

Research shows that early intervention gives the best hope for a good rehabilitation outcome. If referred by ACC, our team will usually begin rehab planning, providing information and building relationships while the person is in hospital. Once medically stable, the person may be transferred to a sub-acute unit such as ours or may go straight home.

Intensive residential rehabilitation

Rehabilitation starts immediately on admission. A large team is formed around the person and family. The doctor, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, psychologist, speech therapist, social worker, nurse, kaitiaki, the 24/7 rehab team and other specialists will collaborate with the person and their family.

In the first two or three weeks the focus is on the assessments and planning completed by each member of the team; a discharge plan is developed and an anticipated date is set for discharge. Rehabilitation goals, strategies and steps along the way are set. Progress is reviewed frequently – often weekly or more. You will be kept up to date by your key worker as the primary point of communication. In the early stages especially, family-whānau involvement is critical. It is very important that we try to help with accommodation for out-of-towners if necessary.

Returns to hospital are rare but it can and does happen. Length of stay is difficult to predict. On average clients stay around 30–50 days in our residential service but it can vary a lot depending on the severity of the injury.

Neuro-behavioural rehabilitation

A brain injury may dramatically change the way a person behaves and affect relationships with family and friends. Anger, dis-inhibition, sexual inappropriateness, outbursts, unpredictable mood swings, irritability and impulsiveness are all reasonably common. A history of drug and alcohol dependency can create major difficulties. Behaviour disturbances are often temporary and can usually be managed successfully but in some cases will be challenging and require patience.

Transitional rehabilitation

ABI Rehabilitation offers a progressive continuum of rehabilitation that allows the person to move over time from high-dependence services to being as independent as possible and preparing to return to the community. Often the last stage of intensive rehabilitation will be a move to one of our smaller transitional units where the person can test their ability to move back home. Understandably, most people want to be at home as soon as possible and we work hard to make that happen.

Recovery

The word ‘recovery’ has a different meaning for everyone. Some clients report, just months after their brain injury, that it’s as if nothing ever happened to them. Other clients may never fully return to their pre-injury condition and will need to embark on a new type of life. For some, rehabilitation is a life-long journey.