Opinion
Consultant clinical neuropsychologist Dr Keith G Jenkins and Dr Jenny Brooks, consultant clinical psychologist on how to stay social during the pandemic.
Consultant clinical neuropsychologist Dr Keith G Jenkins and Dr Jenny Brooks, consultant clinical psychologist on how to keep on top of your mental wellbeing during the pandemic.
Consultant clinical neuropsychologist Dr Keith G Jenkins and Dr Jenny Brooks, consultant clinical psychologist, on how to manage the pandemic guidelines.
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.
Factors that likely influence rehabilitation potential and recovery and predictions of the same include previous abilities, age at onset/injury, individuality, drive, underlying motivation, health, support, environment, the exact nature of injury and the exact nature of individual pre-morbid neurology. Other influencers include our understanding of the brain, how it works, how it repairs and how it responds in the short, medium and long term after injury. Alongside our developing but yet still poor understanding of how exactly treatments and therapies work, even where we ‘know’ that they do, it is therefore impossible to pinpoint and prescribe a very exact treatment or approach for a specific individual's neurology, type of insult and likely natural recovery.
You can learn a lot about an organisation in a crisis. In the white light of times like these, organisational problems can be exacerbated and the truth really does come out. Take EasyJet for example. The airline recently asked for a government bailout to get it through the coronavirus crisis. No shame in that – if it hadn’t at the same time signed off a £174m payout to its shareholders. For an organisation that claims to “support” and “empower” its staff, it seems it is directors and not workers who top the priorities list.
Many of our personal injury clients at Irwin Mitchell suffer from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). They rely upon case managers, rehabilitation therapists and support workers to help them function. Things that we take for granted can only be done with a lot of scaffolding in place. So what happens in a pandemic, when social distancing is enforced? The most obvious impact is that all of the treating therapists and support staff are unable to attend to provide the usual treatment and support.
Whilst collaboration between claimant and defendant lawyers is considered the key to the success of effective rehabilitation, this case study is a reminder to take an open minded and consistent approach to rehabilitation, the odd leap of faith and to never, ever give up. In 2013 we were approached by my client, B’s mum about a statutory will to support her son who was residing in a residential care home. In 2011 B had sustained a very severe traumatic brain injury resulting in severe and complex neurological problems.
The development of the internet and social media has fundamentally changed the way in which people exchange information and engage with society. Use of the internet and social media is said to be of particular importance for people with disabilities, as it can offer opportunities for social inclusion, learning new skills and enhanced autonomy. However, using the internet and social media can also expose vulnerable people to the risk of abuse and predatory behaviour and the risks associated with accessing inappropriate content. It is therefore important that, when a person lacks the mental capacity to make decisions regarding their use of the internet and social media, steps are taken to ensure that their access to social media or the internet is managed in their best interests.
