Memory remediation in long-term acquired brain injury: two approaches in diary training

This study investigated the remediation and assessment of everyday memory impairment in a sample of long-term acquired brain injury (ABI) subjects. The Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test (RBMT) and subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) were selected to measure global memory performance. A memory questionnaire and a daily memory checklist were developed from a review of existing self-report questionnaires. The interrelationships among self-report measures and standardized psychometric tests of memory were examined and the findings suggest that self-report measures may be used to obtain relatively accurate information about everyday memory performance. A baseline across groups' design evaluated the relative effectiveness of two different approaches in training subjects to use a diary to compensate for memory problems. There was a Diary Only (DO) approach, which emphasized compensation based upon task specific learning, and a Diary and Self-Instructional Training (DSIT) approach, which taught compensation using higher cognitive skills of self-awareness and self-regulation. The results obtained show that, during the treatment phase, the DSIT group more consistently made diary entries, reported less memory problems, and made more positive ratings associated with treatment efficacy. The implications arising from the current study are that: (1) the choice of memory assessment procedures need to be guided by the patients' real daily living needs; and (2) an approach based upon self-instructional training has greater ecological validity than an approach that focuses on task specific learning. In general, successful assessment and rehabilitation of memory deficits requires a well-established theoretical basis and sound ecological validity.