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Which type of rehab is most effective in bringing about a return to everyday activities?

Particularly after the first year or once a TBI patient is released from inpatient care?

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Division Director PM&R

Answer transcribed from Brightway's interview with Dr. Thomas Franz:


Assuming the person has already mastered what we call activities of daily living, which are washing up, dressing, the things that an occupational therapist would often work on at least initially, then it would depend on what task you're talking about. If you're talking about what we call high-level activities of daily living, such as shopping, preparing a meal, and working from a recipe, the occupational therapist may still be useful. If you're talking about developing job skills or training for a new type of position, then really a vocational therapist can be very useful in that. If it's support for return to school or return to activities and education, then a speech therapist either through the schooling or through a rehabilitation facility can be very useful. If a person is still in the public education system, then an individualized education plan that utilizes tutors and other structured learning tasks including personnel like speech therapists should be developed. It all really would depend on the age of the individual and what they're trying to return to as well as where they're at in their recovery and what comes next.