Communication among rehabilitation staff: "mild," "moderate," or "severe" deficits?

Effective communication among members of the various rehabilitation disciplines is considered an essential component of the modern team approach. Inconsistency in the use of terminology within and across disciplines poses a significant barrier to effective communication. To systematically examine the extent of this problem, 132 respondents representing 14 rehabilitation facilities in six states were surveyed regarding their use of the descriptive labels "mild," "moderate," and "severe" as they pertain to level of cognitive impairment. They were also questioned regarding their use of terms to characterize different types of memory. As predicted, the results reflect a lack of consensus regarding the use of such terminology. The implications of this communication failure for rehabilitation staff, family members, patients, and third-party payers are discussed, and recommendations are made for ameliorating this problem.