The impact of brain injury on family functioning: implications for subacute rehabilitation programmes

An attempt was made to institute a monthly family treatment programme at a medium-to-long-term subacute care rehabilitation facility. Patients were generally between the ages of 20 and 70, and time since onset of injury ranged from approximately 1 to 15 years. In addition, these patients were markedly impaired and often exhibited periods of severe behavioural dyscontrol. Family involvement was idiopathic and unstructured at the beginning of the project. In contrast, the literature is replete with both empirically based studies and theoretical papers that attest to the critical importance of working with brain injury survivors' families throughout the acute and subacute phases of recovery [1, 2]. Clearly, sequelae of moderate to severe brain injury can be as pervasive and severe for families as for patients themselves [3, 12]. Therefore, the department of psychology introduced a structured family treatment programme in the hope of facilitating effective communication between family members, decreasing displaced incidences of behavioural dyscontrol, and allowing patients to concentrate on and successfully achieve their treatment goals.