What Is It?
An injury to the brain, either penetrating or non-penetrating that results in fatigue, speech problems, difficulty sleeping, loss of balance, seizures, and nausea.
Traumatic brain injury can occur due to a motor vehicle accident, fall, assault, or sports related injury. A force impacts the skull which causes the brain to “bounce” between the skull resulting in diffuse brain tissue damage.
Long-term complications of TBI’s include headaches, seizures, loss of balance, difficulty sleeping, and temporary or prolonged loss of consciousness. Cognitive complications resulting from TBI include language, attention, memory, and executive function deficits. Patients may also experience emotional complications, such as sadness, irritability, and anger.
What Can Be Done for a Brain Injury?
Treatment for TBI includes medication, behavior management, physical and occupational therapy, speech therapy, and cognitive rehabilitation. Oftentimes, TBI patients are under the care of a team of therapists as many brain functions are disrupted, causing interference with everyday life activities.
Cognitive rehabilitation is essential for return to work and establishing normal routines within TBI populations. Patients can benefit from one-on-one sessions with therapists as well as group therapy within a TBI support group inside or outside of a hospital.
How Can HappyNeuron Pro Be Used for Brain Injury Rehabilitation?
HappyNeuron Pro can be used by licensed clinical professionals providing care to brain injury patients. Some examples of clinicians who work with brain injury patients include occupational therapists, psychologists, physical therapists and social workers. While each therapist may have their own therapeutic approach, they can use HappyNeuron Pro as a tool to help their clients practice cognitive skills.
HappyNeuron Pro offers a wide variety of digital content for clinicians to use during their therapy sessions with their clients combating brain injury. Common complications of brain injury include executive function deficits, memory complication, and social skill problems.
Some exercises we suggest for clinicians working with brain injury patients include:
The Towers of Hanoi
A digital version of the neuropsychological task, participants must configure rings in as few moves as possible. This exercise heavily targets strategy and other executive function skills.
I Remember You!
Using visual and verbal memory skills, participants must remember the identities of people presented to them and seat them properly at a table.
Catch the Ladybug!
Brain injury patients can be easily distracted. Using this exercise, clients can practice paying attention to relevant stimuli while ignoring extraneous objects in their environment.
Find Your Way
Participants must remember a path drawn on the screen and recreate it. This exercise is great for training memory and sequencing skills.
Gulf Stream
Watch and identify fish as they appear on the screen. Challenges visual and verbal memory in a fun way.
Seize the Keywords
Extract keywords from a text and recall the order in which they have appeared. Requires participants to pay attention and engage with text presented, as well as develop strategies for remembering a sequence of items in a meaningful way.
In addition to these exercises, we provide more content that focuses on other domains of cognition such as Memory, Executive Function, Visual Memory, Processing Speed, Auditory Processing, and Verbal Memory.
As you work with your client, you can identify overlapping cognitive issues that may be impacting their ability to engage with the world around them. Our other exercises can assist with these complications, and you can address them in and outside of the clinical setting using HappyNeuron Pro.
How Do We Fit Into Your Care Plan for Your Brain Injury Patients?
Brain injuries are treated by a team of medical professionals, as brain injury impacts a patient’s physical, mental, and cognitive well-being. Early rehabilitation can occur bedside and continue as the patient is well enough to be discharged to their home, or to a specialized care facility. Private practices through large hospitals and care homes integrate us as a tool to assist in rehabilitation post-injury.
For bedside intervention, a tablet or laptop can be used for the patient to use the software. For a larger setting outside of acute care, you can use tablets, laptops, or desktop computers. To do group work, you can connect an HDMI cord from the computer to a television screen to carry out a group session for brain injury survivors. Icebreakers for group settings include Split Words, Shapes and Colors, and Sleight of Hands. This can provide needed laughter and encourage patients to participate in therapy.
To see how we can be integrated into your practice and assist your clinicians providing care to brain injury patients, take time to complete our 15 Day Free Trial. You are able to access all of our digital content, as well as our free resources for additional material to use during your therapy sessions with your clients. If you are a researcher, please contact us about using our software for your research study.
Page last updated on Jan 9,2020
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