To realize the full economic, health, and social benefits of rehabilitation, people with injury need timely access to high quality rehabilitation interventions. This means starting injury rehabilitation as soon as a health condition is recognized and continuing to deliver it alongside other healthcare interventions throughout the continuum of care.
People with injuries that require acute care often begin their injury rehabilitation in hospitals. This phase is aimed at addressing the most pressing aspects of their health needs such as stopping bleeding, closing wounds, and diagnosing complications.
Services for Injury Recovery: Accelerating Your Journey to Full Health
After completing acute care, many people with injury rehabilitation receive a referral to the next phase of their care pathway. Depending on their needs, this may include a hospital-based rehabilitation unit, a rehabilitation clinic or nursing home, and/or community-based long-term supportive services (LTSS) in the form of home health visits or outpatient rehabilitation.
Services for Injury Recovery facilities are usually located in large urban centers that can be several hours from an individual’s home. This can make it difficult to access services unless a family has transportation or other support systems.
Providing adequate funding and infrastructure for long-term care after TBI is essential. However, the need for these services is not well addressed in most states.
Persons with TBI who return to their homes after hospital discharge require targeted rehabilitation services such as cognitive rehabilitation, speech-language pathology services, physical therapy and occupational therapy, vestibular and oculomotor treatment, and psychotherapy for mental health concerns. In addition, modifications to housing and the removal of hazards such as sharp objects can be important to ensure a safe living environment.