Acquired Brain Injury Day 25

I cannot say enough good things about the Alfred and the Caulfield Hospital. The Acquired Brain Injury Rehabilitation Center was set up to ensure that people recovering from severe brain injuries have the very best chance of a meaningful recovery. The Service model they followed and which appears to be working is  guided by the following key principles:

• A focus on early transfer of patients from acute hospitals to rehabilitation
• Comprehensive interdisciplinary, evidence based, model of care focusing on person centered rehabilitation to achieve functional goals
• Integrated inpatient and community rehabilitation programs with patients receiving ongoing therapy and care in the least restrictive environment to promote independence
• Community rehabilitation service providing long term management and support, in partnership with local services, focusing on lifelong, evolving needs of people with an ABI.
• Extensive family/ carer and patient education and engagement in the process.

The service is underpinned by a culture of patient safety, excellence in service delivery and continuous quality improvement through the use of current, and emerging, evidence in clinical practice. An active research program will also underpin the service model, ensuring ongoing service evaluation and the development and translation of new evidence into practice.

I may have mentioned this in an earlier post but it bears repeating. The Alfred is home to the busiest trauma center in Australia and each year offers high level acute care to thousands of patients who sustain head injuries, as well as acute care to patients who have experienced stroke or brain injuries from other causes. Caulfield Hospital, as a specialist site in rehabilitation, has also long-provided support to these patients that leave the Alfred.

Colleen was not very well when I saw her today, she was still sick from the infection and she had not slept well. The move confused her and the new surroundings were leading to a high level of frustration. She had a meeting with the Occupational Therapist which "did not go well", according to the Therapist.

One of the impacts of Acquired Brain Injury is Poor frustration tolerance and anger management control, which were in full evidence today. I can still see signs of progress but there are some setbacks  

One of the signs of progress was that she knew I was leaving and she couldn't leave. She wanted to have her freedom and was frustrated by the restrictions of movement she was under. I am sure she did not see it as an improvement but while at the Alfred she was not aware enough of her surroundings to know if I was there or not. So I take this as a good sign.