Browsing by Author "Rissanen, Anna"

Objectives. Cognitive disability is one major cause for challenges after traumatic brain injury (Cicerone, et al, 2000). Deficits in executive functions are common in patients suffering from traumatic brain injury and these deficits often influence the patient’s everyday life and capability to handle daily tasks. Cognitive rehabilitation plays a large role in rehabilitation of executive functions and recently there has been an emerging number of research related to the effects rehabilitation has on daily life. In this review I aim to examine recent research made on evidence-based cognitive rehabilitation of executive functions among patients who have suffered traumatic brain injury. I also attempt to evaluate research that aims to estimate the effects cognitive rehabilitation has on patient’s everyday life. Methods. Keith D. Cicerone and his partners have made several systematic reviews on evidence-based cognitive rehabilitation. These systematic reviews are to a large extent in the center of this review because of their suitability to the subject. Other articles were selected through searches made in PubMed and other databases and through feedback I received during guidance. The keywords were ”traumatic brain injury”, ”executive functions” and ”cognitive rehabilitation”. Results and conclusions. Interventions that combined Metacognitive Strategy Training and functional skills training as well as group-based interventions were shown to be effective in rehabilitating executive functions after traumatic brain injury. These interventions also had positive effects on participant’s everyday life. Holistic, integrative rehabilitation was also shown to be effective in improving the participant’s ability to function in daily life after traumatic brain injury. It is clinically significant to examine the effects of rehabilitation also from the perspective of the patient’s everyday life. Although research regarding cognitive rehabilitation’s effects on everyday life has increased lately, there is still a demand for more research in this field.