Wales sets example of managing rehab in the pandemic
Neuro-rehab professionals acted fast in the coronavirus crisis, according to Chief Allied Health Professions therapies advisor for the Welsh government, Ruth Crowder.
“Instantly, we realised the implications of the pandemic,” she says. “We looked at what we could do remotely with services and developed a rehab framework really rapidly,” Crowder says. “We identified that this was going to become an issue, so Wales moved really quickly to implement a framework.” The Welsh government supported the introduction of ‘attend anywhere’ video consultation and telephone advice for primary care across a range of services across several provisions, including numerous Allied Health Professionals in neuro rehab. It’s been rolled out for a year to test its suitability, with a view to continue using it in the future, Crowder says.
Making the shift from victim to survivor
After having a stroke two years ago at the age of 39, former international swimmer Craig Pankhurst founded the charity Stroke of Luck to support stroke survivors through activity and exercise. Jessica Brown reports.
“Stroke survivors are in one of two places – they either see themselves as a victim, with a not very positive outlook,” Pankhurst says. “Or they see their stroke as a bump in the road, but that no one will stop them from having a fulfilled life, just one that’s different to the one they were leading before. “We put in a halfway line to move people from the victim to survivor mentality.”
Neuro issues linked to coronavirus in children
Some children who have had severe cases of coronavirus may develop neurological issues, according to new research.
Researchers from Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children looked at 27 children who developed multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a severe inflammatory response that seems to be linked to Covid-19. Four of them experienced neurological conditions and had to be admitted to intensive care for an average of one week. Their average age was 12. These patients experienced headaches, confusion and muscle weakness, and had slowed activity in nerves and muscle fibres.
How new tech and an old concept are shaping stroke care
Not so long ago, stroke patients were told by doctors that their brains wouldn’t recover. Now, it’s a very different picture, says Niamh Kennedy, lecturer in psychology at Ulster University.
“Now we know this isn’t true, and that the brain is constantly changing,” she says. Kennedy’s research focuses on neuroplasticity, which is the concept that the brain can rewire itself. This has gone from an abstract concept to there being an explosion of research, she says. “Neuroplasticity was first talked about over 100 years ago, but it wasn’t until the last 20 years that researchers have begun thinking about how to utilise this extraordinary phenomenon.”
Researchers make baby test breakthrough
A blood test could predict whether babies starved of oxygen at birth are at risk of neurological-related disabilities and conditions including cerebral palsy and epilepsy.
Neonatal encephalopathy (NE) is the most common cause of death and neurodisability in babies that go to full term, with an incidence of between two and three per 1,000 live births in high-income countries, where up to 55 per cent of babies with moderate and severe cases of NE have adverse long-term outcome, according to the paper.
Rugby decision misleading, researcher claims
Research behind the World Rugby’s tackle-height trial was ‘dressing up corporate messaging as independent science,’ according to a researcher.
World Rugby made the controversial decision in July 2018 to trial lowering the height at which tackles can be made, changing the definition of a high tackle from above the line of the shoulders to above the armpit line. World Rugby introduced this trial on championship rugby players in the UK to test the hypothesis that lowering tackle height would lower concussion incidence. Five months later, it was stopped because of an increase in the risk of players getting concussion.
Police must be monitored for brain injury, argue researchers
“Most of the head injuries were from general life experience, such as contact or extreme sports, and some officers were ex-armed forces,” says Huw Williams, associate professor of clinical neuropsychology at the University of Exeter.
Those with TBI were more likely to have experienced post‐concussion symptoms, which was associated with greater severity of PTSD, depression and drinking to cope.
How two community services are making tentative steps to normality
In Portsmouth, the local Headway has had a difficult time in recent months. Two service users have died from Covid-19, and another has been sectioned and taken to a secure facility after their mental health took a downturn.
There’s been a huge spike in mental health problems, and a few service users, who wouldn’t have done so under normal circumstances, have got in trouble with the police.
Most service users are gradually building their contact with the outside world again, with Headway’s help.
When lockdown began in March, service manager Deborah Robinson decided the best course of action was to identify the most vulnerable users and make sure she and her team maintained regular contact with them. The next challenge was gradually exposing them to more contact as restrictions began to ease.
The family experience of brain injury
Karen Ledger (KL): When brain injury occurs, it's like a bomb going off in the family. Life will never be the same again for any of the members of that family. People will be shocked, bewildered and overwhelmed, and they then have to go through a complicated process of adjustment, and people reach that adjustment at different stages. The person with the brain injury will generally have a neuropsychologist assigned to support them. Most will pay attention to people's feelings and emotions, but the rest of the family may not have any psychological support. This situation doesn't get better of itself without professional input, it can get worse and people’s mental health can and often does spiral down. Louise Jenkins (LJ): It’s a particular challenge if you've got someone with little or no insight. They often won't recognise the need for or be willing to engage with neuropsychological treatment until much further down the line, by which stage, the family may have entered a more advanced stage of crisis and their whole family unit may be at risk of breakdown. There are complex emotions involved in the adjustment process following trauma which include shock, guilt and loss.
