Disability and rehabilitation
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To compare the attitudes and preferences of persons with spinal cord injury/dysfunction (SCI/D) and healthcare providers regarding prescription medications, over-the-counter medications, and natural health products (NHPs). ⋯ Healthcare providers and persons with SCI/D described different attitudes about and preferences for pharmacotherapeutic products, contributing to challenges in optimizing medication management. Strategies to improve medication management include shared decision-making to incorporate patient preferences into care plans and explicit discussions about long-term medication safety. Further, steps are needed to combat the stigma associated with medication use.Implications for rehabilitationFollowing a person-centered approach to shared decision-making, prescribers should initiate explicit conversations about patient medication preferences, short and long-term prescription medication side effects, and alternative treatment options.Regarding prescription medication safety, persons with spinal cord injury/dysfunction focused on the long term impact of medications, while providers focused on medication-related addictions, highlighting a disconnect that should be discussed during initiation, continuation, or discontinuation of a medication.Providers should be mindful of the stigma associated with taking multiple prescription medications, including medicinal marijuana, as well as the stigma associated with over-the-counter medications and natural health products.Providers could benefit from education about spinal cord injury/dysfunction-specific prescription medications and could benefit from increased education about natural health products.
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Purpose: Participation in home, school and community activities is considered as the ultimate aim of rehabilitation. The aims of this study were to examine participation seven years post-severe childhood traumatic brain injury and factors associated with participation. Materials and methods: Participants were enrolled in the Traumatisme Grave de l'Enfant (Severe Childhood Injury) cohort study following severe accidental childhood traumatic brain injury. ⋯ Participation should be assessed systematically following severe traumatic brain injury, both initially but also in the long-term, ideally using a combination of self- and proxy-report measures. Among patients with severe injuries, the influence of initial brain injury severity markers on participation seems much stronger than that of social/family environment factors. Children's and adolescents' self-reported participation assessed with the Child and Adolescent Scale of Participation may be difficult to interpret.
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Background: To evaluate the evidence for psychological treatments for persistent postconcussion symptoms following mild traumatic brain injury. There is scant evidence from limited clinical trials to direct the psychological management of persistent symptoms. Method: Databases were searched for studies that: (1) included adults (≥ aged 16 years) following injury (from any cause); (2) tested interventions for postconcussion symptoms after the acute injury period (e.g., after hospital discharge), but prior to established chronicity (e.g., not more than 12 months post-injury), and; (3) applied one of five broadly-defined psychological interventions (cognitive behavioural therapy, counselling, psychoeducation, education/reassurance, or mindfulness). ⋯ Implications for rehabilitationPersistent symptoms following mild traumatic brain injury can be disabling and psychological management for rehabilitation may be proposed. However, Controlled trials show that while some psychological approaches hold promise for this purpose, there are significant gaps in the underpinning evidence. The best results are seen when postconcussion programs use counselling or cognitive behaviour therapy and are targetted for people with an increased risk of persistent symptoms.
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Purpose: Voice and communication changes can occur following cervical spinal cord injury due to dysfunction of the respiratory and phonatory subsystems. Few studies have explored the "lived experience" of communication changes post cervical spinal cord injury. Furthermore, the impacts of these changes on community activity/participation and requirements for psychosocial adjustment have not been well-elucidated. ⋯ Communication changes had multifaceted effects on participants' functioning, and were represented equally across the Body Functions (12 codes), Activities/Participation (12 codes), and Environmental Factors (11 codes) domains of the model. Conclusions: Individuals with cervical spinal cord injury perceive and experience meaningful changes on communication function post-injury, with salient impacts to daily-living and social participation. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONAs a result of communication changes post-injury, individuals with cervical spinal cord injury experience several challenges across a variety of domains in daily lifeThe current study highlights the benefit of using a biopsychosocial framework, such as The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), to consider the complex and diverse impact of communication changes on the functioning of individuals with cervical spinal cord injury, as well as the influence of environmental factors, on rehabilitation planningThe current data demonstrates the need for increased involvement of speech-language pathologists as core members of the multidisciplinary team, and for acute awareness by all health professionals of the potential impact of communication changes on rehabilitation and psychosocial adjustment in individuals with cervical spinal cord injury.
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Major trauma impairs health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The aim of this study was the Finnish translation and external validation of the Trauma Quality of Life (TQoL) questionnaire. ⋯ The correlation between the Finnish TQoL questionnaire and the 15D was high. The factor structures of the original and Finnish versions of the TQoL questionnaire were not identical, which may be a consequence of cultural or patient population differences.Implications for rehabilitationTrauma causes a long-term decrease in health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and this impact should be assessed in rehabilitation.The Trauma-Specific Quality of Life (TQoL) questionnaire has many shared features with the generic HRQoL questionnaire, but it also contains features related to post-traumatic disorder syndrome.The TQoL questionnaire is a valid tool for monitoring HRQoL after trauma.