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Rehabilitation

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Brain Specialist

What Is Rehabilitation?

Rehabilitation is a treatment or treatments designed to facilitate the process of recovery from injury, illness, or disease to as normal a condition as possible. The purpose of rehabilitation is to restore some or all of the patient's physical, sensory, and mental capabilities that were lost due to injury, illness, or disease.

Rehabilitation includes assisting the patient to compensate for deficits that cannot be reversed medically. It is prescribed after many types of injury, illness, or disease, including amputations, arthritis, cancer, cardiac disease, neurological problems, orthopedic injuries, spinal cord injuries, stroke, and traumatic brain injuries. Rehabilitation should be carried out only by qualified therapists.

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Rehabilitation Teams

Many professions and specialists are involved in the acute care and the early rehabilitation process including, but not limited to:

  • Neurosurgeon: The surgical specialist who performs surgery on the brain and has expertise in the diseases of the central nervous system
  • Emergency Physician: A medical specialist who initially diagnoses and stabilizes acutely injured patients including those with traumatic brain injury.
  • Trauma Surgeon: A surgical specialist who diagnoses and manages the overall care of acutely injured multiple trauma patients; performs non-brain surgeries and other therapies aimed at limiting brain injury.
  • Neurologist. A medical specialist of disorders of the nervous system; may be involved in the initial diagnosis of brain injury and may continue to monitor recovery.
  • Neuropsychiatrist: A medical specialist who concentrates on behaviors, personality change, and mood changes, memory change, and sleep/wake cycles related to brain injury; may diagnose, monitor, and prescribe medications for these problems.
  • Neuropsychologist: A psychologist who specializes in brain-behavior relationships; may administer a series of tests to evaluate a person's cognitive, emotional, intellectual, and academic/vocational skills.
  • Occupational Therapist: Helps the individual regain the physical, perceptual, and cognitive skills required to perform activities of daily living.
  • Physiatrist: A medical specialist who is involved in rehabilitation; in hospitals and rehabilitation settings, often leads the rehabilitation team and coordinates the goals into a unified approach.
  • Nurse/Social Worker/Case Manager [CARE MATTERS, LLC]: Responsibilities may vary as an active member of the team involved in planning, implementing, and evaluating the individual's plan of care. Acts as a link between the individual with injury, the family, and the team members; may provide education, resources, emotional support, and discharge options; may negotiate between facility and financial source.
  • Speech-Language Pathologist: Responsible for evaluating and treating problems with communication, swallowing, and cognitive problems such as memory, higher-level reasoning and problem solving.
  • Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor: Evaluates the individuals's past vocational or educational performance and current vocational skills; goal is to help an individual resume appropriate and realistic employment.