Vocational rehabilitation for clients with cognitive and behavioral disorders associated with traumatic brain injury

Issue title: Work in Japan

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Watanabe, Shu

Affiliations: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Jikei University School of Medicine 4-11-1, Izumihoncho, Komae city, Tokyo, Japan. Tel.: +81 3 3819 1211; Fax: +81 3 3819 1406; E-mail: wa2ta@hs.tmu.ac.jp

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To report on functional outcomes of clients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) admitted to a sub-acute rehabilitation hospital and rehabilitation facility in Japan. PARTICIPANTS: The subjects included 300 adults with TBI who underwent a rehabilitation in-patient program at the hospital at the Kanagawa Rehabilitation Center. METHODS: Individual and group programs were designed for TBI clients using an interdisciplinary teamwork model including supported employment. All clients were evaluated by the Barthel Index, WAIS-R, and social outcome. RESULTS: Overall, at discharge from the hospital, 46.4% of 300 clients were placed in gainful employment or returned to the school they had attended previously. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a high prevalence of cognitive and behavioral disorders after moderate-to-severe TBI, long-term functional improvement is likely to occur in clients with TBI. Greater gains in both physical and cognitive functions are made through a multidisciplinary, wide-ranging, comprehensive approach to rehabilitation.

Keywords: Multidisciplinary comprehensive rehabilitation, supported employment, vocational outcome

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-131594

Journal: Work, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 273-277, 2013