Browsing by Subject "tanssikuntoutus"

Aims. Long-term rehabilitation of post-traumatic brain injury can be stressful for rehabilitators and is often costly for society. There is a great need for new rehabilitation practices, that are both multimodal and motivating. Dance rehabilitation can be a considerable form of rehabilitation for those with severe brain injury because it can potentially rehabilitate several dimensions simultaneously. There are a variety of changes in the communication skills of people with severe brain injuries that affect an individual’s inner circle and everyday functioning. Identifying these changes is paramount in planning and targeting rehabilitation. Because post-traumatic brain injury is typically associated with incomplete symptom awareness, the assessment of the rehabilitative close others plays an important role. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of dance rehabilitation on the communication of adults with severe brain injury. Although dance has been researched and utilized in neurological rehabilitation to some extent, no research has been conducted on the effect of dance rehabilitation on the communication skills of a person with traumatic brain injury. Methods. The study included 10 adults aged 19 to 45 years with severe brain injuries. Rehabilitators participated in a dance rehabilitation intervention for 2 hours per week for 3 months. In addition, 10 well-known people close to the rehabilitator participated in the study. Subjects (N = 20) assessed the rehabilitator’s communication skills using the La Trobe Communication Questionnaire at the beginning and end of the dance rehabilitation intervention. Responses from rehabilitators and their close others were examined in five different content areas of communication. Analyzes of the research data were performed by statement groups by calculating the mean variables at the beginning and end of the intervention using statistical methods. In addition, the evaluations of the rehabilitator and the close other were compared. Results and conclusions. In this study, there was no statistically significant change in the estimates of rehabilitators and their close others at the beginning and end of the intervention. There was also no statistically significant difference in the assessments of the rehabilitators and their close others. Communication skills of people with brain injuries have not been previously studied in the context of a dance rehabilitation intervention. Further research is needed on both the rehabilitation of communication skills for severe brain injury and the effectiveness of dance rehabilitation.