Protective Nature of Family Members and Professionals Following Traumatic Brain Injury
The Protective Nature of Family Members and Professionals Alike Following Traumatic Brain Injury – and Letting Go
Donna Check
Family members are obviously frightened when they learn a loved one has any type of catastrophic injury and is unable to make decisions about care and treatment. Hospitals often assign a family member as Health Care Surrogate so decisions can be made for the patient in the hospital for this reason. The protective instinct we have within ourselves is most prevalent when we are asked to help someone we love, particularly when in that capacity of Health Care Surrogate or court-appointed guardian. In either of those roles of responsibility, we see that person we love in a hospital bed and we look at everything surrounding him or her starting with the bed rails. We want to make sure they are up and secure yet at the same time we can’t wait for our loved one to get out of the bed.
Nurses, therapists, technicians, aides, neuropsychologists, psychologists, and physicians in neurorehabilitation programs are most often are protective of their patients. Safety is a huge concern and it is the responsibility of all professionals to ensure each patient is not in any danger and that environments are safe. At the same time, the goals of these professionals include pushing each patient further every day. All recognize the balance of safety and risk yet that protective nature is instilled in us all somehow.
One of the biggest challenges following brain injury is many individuals have no idea they are suffering from the cognitive residuals of the injury, and they believe they can just go home and return to work. If discharged directly home from the hospital or acute rehab, family members often observe the safety risks firsthand when they see their loved one is unable to function as they did before the injury.
With specialized neurorehabilitation in a residential post-acute program such as NeuLife, formal cognitive therapy is offered and a plan is developed and implemented incorporating physical, recreational, avocational, and cognitive activities (for example) into all daily activities and outings to carry through skills taught in formal therapy sessions. Through repetitive and consistent practice, compensatory strategies are learned. This process is enhanced when teaching is done with positive and reinforcing protocols and in an environment where therapeutic activities are meaningful and enjoyable, such is NeuLife’s philosophy.
It is much easier to “let go” when families are confident in the outcome achieved through NeuLife Residential Post-Acute Programs.
