Home > Services > Rehabilitation > Brain Injury Rehab
Brain Injury Rehabilitation
Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center has long been
regarded as one of the premier rehabilitation institutions
in the United States. The Adult Brain Injury (ABI) Program continues this
tradition of excellence by providing coordinated, case managed, acute
inpatient rehabilitation services to persons over the age of 18 with
traumatic and non-traumatic brain injuries. These include injuries resulting
from motor vehicle accidents, blunt trauma, gunshot wounds and anoxia, as well
as those combined with spinal injury or orthopedic fractures.
Since Rancho Los Amigos functions as a safety net provider for Los Angeles County,
person with and without funding are eligible for services.
Interdisciplinary Teams
The comprehensive interdisciplinary team is led by a
physiatrist or neurologist and is
comprised of a registered nurse, case manager, occupational and
physical therapists, psychologist, speech-language pathologist, social worker,
recreation therapist, and dietician.
On admission, the clinical team works closely with the patient
and family to develop goals and plan a program to meet the unique
needs of each person served. On average, patients participate in at
least 3 hours of therapy, 6 days per week and stay for 2 to 4 weeks.
Medical Management by rehabilitation physicians and nursing care
are provided 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Based on needs
identified through initial and ongoing assessment, other care
providers may join the treatment team, including a respiratory
therapist, neuro-optometrist, pharmacist, orthotist, prosthetist,
and other consulting medical specialists.
Levels of Cognitive Function
The Rancho Levels of Cognitive Function,
widely used across the world and regarded by many in the field as an essential tool in assessing
individuals with brain injury, was originally developed by speech-language
pathologists at Rancho. In addition to cognitive impairments,
brain injury survivors frequently experience complex behavioral,
psychosocial, vocational, educational and community integration
challenges. The interdisciplinary team develops a comprehensive
program to address these needs as well as any accompanying chemical
use/abuse/dependency and mental health issues.
Medical Progress
The patient’s medical progress is monitored on a daily basis.
The attending physician may consult with other specialists as needed,
including orthopedic, internal medicine, ENT, ophthalmology,
dental, and pressure management. Diagnostic and other studies
including MRI, CT, EEG and EMG are available for complete assessment
and monitoring. In addition, Rancho is home to the
Pathokinesiology Laboratory headed by Dr. Jacquelin Perry,
a world renowned expert on gait analysis. Gait patterns and
deviations are analyzed using dynamic EMG to help plan for
reconstructive surgery or adaptive bracing.
Family Participation and Return to Home and Community
The dedicated professionals in the Adult Brain Injury Program
work with survivors of brain injury and their support systems,
using the most effective approaches and techniques, to improve
quality of life and achieve the most independent levels of functioning,
including returning to home and community activities and roles.
The ABI Program encourages family members to participate throughout
the rehabilitation process. Family involvement in goal setting,
therapy and education sessions, family conferences, home visits and
community re-integration activities is an integral part of the
patient's program.
After discharge from the inpatient program, patients are seen
for follow-up in the Adult Brain Injury Clinic to evaluate
their progress and discuss rehabilitation or medical issues. Patients
with ongoing needs are referred for continued outpatient therapy
or to community providers, as appropriate. In addition to individual
and group occupational, physical and speech therapy programs, driver
training and vocational programs are available.
Page last updated November 18, 2011
Please forward any comments or problems with this Web Site to
webmaster@rancho.org
