TBI Treatment Option – Why is Neuropsychological Therapy Important?

Neuropsychology, as the very name suggests, combines the fields of neurology and psychology to understand how your behavior or skills link to your brain structure and systems. When a person has undergone a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), recovery requires intense rehabilitation to restore normal functioning as far as possible. In such, a rehabilitation team, a neuropsychologist is the principal member and attends to an integral part of the TBI treatment option.

 

Who is a Neuropsychologist?

A neuropsychologist has specialized knowledge about the relationship between the brain and behavior. He uses neurological, psychological and physiological knowledge to understand a patient’s cognitive and emotional strengths and weaknesses and correlate the results to understand his brain’s functioning.

 

Therapeutic Approach of Neuropsychology as a TBI Treatment Option

After a severe brain injury, a patient may wonder why specific symptoms are persisting despite medication. Also, the patient might be completely unaware that their brain has undergone changes and is affecting their daily life.

In such cases, a neuropsychologist plays a vital role in assessment and TBI treatment option. The neuropsychologist assesses the changes in the patient’s thinking and behaviors, to evaluate the patient’s memory, attention, reasoning, and other cognitive skills. The tests will assess memory, focus and concentration, decision making, impulsivity, orientation, communication abilities, and ability to speak and understand when spoken to. Brain scans such as CT or MRI are also used for evaluation. This evaluation helps determine ongoing cognitive impairment and what abilities have been affected the most.

These tests are standardized for all patients, meaning they are administered and scored in the same manner. The patient’s scores are compared to that of healthy people of the same demography. This helps the neuropsychologist to determine whether the patient’s performance on any given task is a strength or a weakness.

Continuous evaluations are done later to assess the improvement over a measure of time. The advantages that come with neuropsychology outweigh any other treatment option offered.

 

Therapy Outcome

After assessment of test results and understanding the cause, neuropsychological therapy aims at devising a treatment plan that may include medication, rehabilitation or surgical intervention. The results also help in understanding the patient’s capacity to manage legal and financial affairs, make medical decisions, live independently and return to work or school. Neuropsychologists give recommendations for improving brain function and also provide education and counseling for the emotional and social well-being of the patient and the patient’s family. The goal of this TBI treatment option is to improve the patient’s ability to perform daily activities.

Rehabilitation therapy may include nurses, physical therapist, psychiatrist, speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists along with the neuropsychologist. They collectively help with the functioning ability as well as mental and physical problems caused by TBI. They also support the patient socially and emotionally and assist them in adapting to the changes that they may face during the recovery period.

Rehabilitation therapy will also help prevent TBI complications like pain, blood clots, bedsores, breathing problems, muscle weakness and spasms, bowel, bladder, and sexual function problems.

 

Finding the Right Treatment Center

An improper administration of treatment increases the risks for a new injury or worsening of existing symptoms. Neuropsychological therapy is, therefore, an effective  TBI treatment option. For maximum benefit, it is imperative that you get the right help from the right professionals. Allista offers the best medical services around, including neuropsychological therapy, which will assist in the treatment of the patient. Our services are not only administered by qualified physicians, they are also affordable and accessible to our patients. Allista’s services are also available through its partners Americas Hospitals and Hospital en Casa located in Guadalajara, Mexico.