Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program
Approximately two million brain injuries occur each year in the United States. In Massachusetts, nearly 28,000 brain injuries occur annually. The Brain Injury Program at New England Rehabilitation Hospital was established in 1974 to provide comprehensive interdisciplinary rehabilitation to individuals who have sustained a traumatic or non-traumatic brain injury. The goal of the brain injury program is to optimize medical management in conjunction with cognitive and physical rehabilitation to maximize functional outcomes and facilitate a discharge to the community.
This goal is accomplished through development of an individualized treatment plan for each patient by the interdisciplinary staff.
The Brain Injury Program is:
- Comprised of specialized evaluations and protocols that provide sensitive measures of cognitive and functional recovery unavailable with standard rehabilitation assessments
- Run by an experienced, dedicated and professional staff trained in traumatic brain injury, behavioral management and neurological rehabilitation
- Committed to patient and family education via team meetings and brain injury family education sessions .
The Brain Injury Rehabilitation Team Consists of:
- The NERH Brain Injury Team is an interdisciplinary team of medical and rehabilitation clinicians led by led by a physiatrist.
- Other medical specialities to include;
- Psychiatry
- Neurology
- Oncologist
- Pulmonologist
- Wound Specialist
- Nurses specializing in 24-Hour Rehabilitation Nursing
- Occupational Therapist
- Physical Therapist
- Speech Language Pathologist
- Case Manager
- Benefits specialist
- Dietician
Program components/ special features includes:
- Clinical Staff specialized in evaluation and management of Brain Injury throughout the spectrum of recovery
- 24-Hour Rehabilitation nursing to address wound management, reinforce acquired functional skills, to assist with education of the patient and family
- Intensive and Individualized, goal-oriented treatment plans
- Patient focused therapeutic programs utilizing individual, group and independent sessions
- Functional Approach to Activities of Daily Living and Community Re-entry
- Specialized insurance benefits coordination and management
- Weekly Team conference
- Family conferences, education and support
- Comprehensive case management discharge planning
- Cognitive perceptual retraining
- Progressive Exercise and Functional Activities Programs
- Positioning and Seating management
- Tone and Spasicity Management
- Community Re-entry Program
- Leisure activities program,
- Behavior management program overseen by Psychiatry
- Phase Out programs
- Serial casting and splinting programs.
- Brace Clinic
- Onsite Orthotic Assessment and onsite fabrication
- MBS evaluations
- Nutritional management
- Driving Evaluation Clinic
- Availability of State-of-the-Art rehabilitation technology to include:
- Therapeutic Pool (Woburn)
- Secure care floor
- Low stimulation gym
- Comprehensive Outpatient Neurorehabilitation Services
Benefits Management and Coordination
An illness or injury may affect a person's capacity for returning to work. If one of our patients is likely to be unable to return to work for a short or extended period, New England Rehabilitation Hospital offers the services of a Benefits Specialist to help the patient and family with practical matters of income replacement and health insurance concerns. The Benefits Specialist addresses such matters as: filing for Family and Medical Leave, Short Term Disability, Long Term Disability, Social Security Disability, MassHealth and COBRA assistance. The Benefits Specialist is also able to address social concerns of emergency aid for those persons who may not have worked prior to the injury or illness.
New England Rehabilitation Hospital recognizes the importance of assisting patients back to their homes, communities and places of work. The benefits service is dedicated to achieving those goals by helping patients and families navigate through disability benefits systems and by providing support to patients and families as they go through this often difficult and confusing process. Many patients have commented that they would not have known "where to begin" and that this service completes their overall rehabilitation.
New England Rehab Offers Elder Assist Clinic
New England Rehabilitation Hospital in conjunction with the Senior Resource Center (SRC) now offers complimentary, weekly Elder Assist Clinics in Woburn. These pre-registered private appointments with SRC's Eldercare Nurse Attorneys help patients and their families with important issues, to include:
- How to pay for current and long term health care needs
- How to protect your home and your hard assets
- Advice on estate planning
These clinics serve as a bridge in helping New England Rehabilitation Hospital patients and their families deal with transition needs for a safe and timely discharge home, to a skilled nursing facility, or an assisted living facility.
Senior Resource Center, Inc. is a full-service eldercare planning advisory group, supporting seniors and their families throughout Massachusetts, and southern New Hampshire.
Brain Injury Program Brochure .pdf
|
