Katherine Brockman explains how occupational therapy is an essential part of the service that assesses and treats mild traumatic brain injury within the UK military population .
Supporting people to return to military employment after brain injury
Katherine Brockman explains how occupational therapy is an essential part of the service that assesses and treats mild traumatic brain injury within the UK military population .
T he Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre ( DMRC ) Stanford Hall provides rehabilitation to wounded , sick and injured military personnel . As part of the neurological services , the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury ( mTBI ) Service provides assessment and intervention to personnel after injury , with the aim of reducing their symptoms , maximising their levels of functioning and returning to military employment .
All serving personnel can be referred into this service if they have sustained a mild traumatic brain injury .
The patient population coming through the service commonly present with a range of symptoms , encompassing physical , emotional and cognitive elements . The service aims to assess and treat these in a holistic way to help facilitate recovery and maximise functional outcomes .
Occupational therapists are well placed to facilitate this , due to their training that covers the cognitive , physical and psychological components present following an mTBI , as well as the activity analysis skills that play a key role when exploring return to work .
38 OTnews June 2023