Cognitive assessment and neurological rehabilitation

Two recent studies evaluating cognitive assessment in patients with multiple sclerosis and stroke found no benefit from providing information derived from a full cognitive assessment, and one study also failed to find any benefit following specific 'cognitive treatments'. These studies might suggest that rehabilitation teams do not need clinical psychologists. However it is already known that isolated assessment does not affect outcome, and the nature and context of the assessments and interventions in these studies simply reinforces this. Thus, given the frequency of cognitive deficits in these patients and given the strong evidence in favour of multidisciplinary teamwork in rehabilitation, these studies could be used as strong evidence that clinical psychologists should be integral members of all neurological rehabilitation teams.