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COVID-19 has undoubtedly had a huge impact on court proceedings – but the wheels of justice spin on and cases are continuing to take place. Subsequent restrictions, however, have presented numerous challenges to all involved parties; and new and innovative workarounds are being found. One specific challenge is the drafting and filing of witness statements [...]

Despite the impact of COVID-19 across many sectors, Parkinson’s research continues at pace with studies across the world shining new light onto the disease, as NR Times reports.

Elysium Neurological, part of Elysium Healthcare, has announced opening of the Avalon Centre, a specialised neurobehavioural rehabilitation service for adults in Swindon.

In a serious injury case, a plethora of expert evidence will be obtained, writes Irwin Mitchell's David Withers...

Alcohol-related brain injury (ARBI) is becoming more widely recognised, but specific rehab services for the condition are surprisingly rare.

With few dedicated units for patients with ARBI, many patients in need of specialist care instead find themselves in a hospital or even an elderly care home.

ARBI is characterised by prolonged cognitive impairment and changes in the brain due to chronic alcohol consumption.

Every patient seen by a Chroma is different. Each day is never the same. That’s certainly the case for Lucy, who suffered a stroke. She presented to A&E with dense left-sided weakness, aphasia and vomiting. CT scans revealed that she had suffered from a right intracerebral haemorrhage. Lucy was referred to Chroma for Neurologic Music Therapy to address poor breath support, reduced voice volume and monotonous voice quality.

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is often triggered by a viral or bacterial infection such as flu or food poisoning, it causes the nerves in the arms and legs to become inflamed and stop working, usually leading to temporary paralysis which may last from a few days to many months. An estimated 1,300 people (1 to 2 people per 100,000) are affected by GBS annually in the UK. About 80 per cent will make a good recovery, but between 5 and 10 per cent of people will not survive and 10 and 15 per cent may experience long term residual effects ranging from limited mobility or dexterity, to life-long dependency on a wheelchair. One such example is William Marsh, 57, from Glamorgan, Wales, who suffered from symptoms including stomach cramps and diarrhoea towards the end of a week-long all-inclusive holiday to the Dominican Republic in September 2018 which was booked to celebrate his 25^th wedding anniversary.

Suffering a TBI can affect people in different ways. In some cases, the patient can be affected so severely that they are deemed to be in a vegetative state. This is the case for many patients referred to Chroma. Ahmed was admitted to the prolonged disorders of consciousness unit for assessment at a private London hospital and was deemed to be in a vegetative state. He was unable to track objects, localise sounds or recognise objects or familiar voices. This is an all too familiar case seen by therapists within Chroma and their work in the private healthcare sector.

  The admissions team invest a lot of time in developing our contact base of social workers, solicitors, case managers and other professionals who can refer people to our homes. We accept people from across the whole country, so we’ve created a national network over several years. This is enabling us now to reach out to as many people as possible who may need our support. Richardson Care was established over 30 years ago and the provision for adults with acquired brain injury has increased significantly in the last seven years. It has taken some time to build up our network of contacts but our aim is to grow at a sustainable rate.

Goal setting is always a hot topic in neurorehabilitation – it has, in many ways, become much more than the sum of its parts and, as a concept, it is saturated with literature. There is frequently new research evaluating components of goal setting or describing emerging ideas in the field, and this can be difficult to navigate, even with all the time in the world. As clinicians, however, there is rarely ever any spare time at all. If we listen to what we are told about how important goal setting is for our service users and teams, we need to know exactly what it is, why it matters, and how we can do a good job of it.