Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy (CRT), in simple terms, deals with the enhancement options that are rendered to address the cognitive issues after a brain injury or stroke and enables the person to live on their own.
According to the book, Epidemiology of traumatic brain injuries: Indian scenarioI, it is estimated that over 1 million people in India undergo traumatic injuries that affect both physical and cognitive abilities and hamper the quality of life. The determent of cognitive abilities is mostly affected by brain injuries than other injuries.
What is CRT?
CRT is an umbrella term used to the treatment methods provided to the people who have experienced a brain injury or a stroke. The components in the treatment process of CRT are decided based on the injury or the stroke’s impact on the brain.
Who are Involved in CRT?
CRT comprises of specialists from various disciplines including speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, and neuropsychologists. The therapy patterns, frequency and duration will be decided based on the results of the assessment.
Assessment of CRT
The assessment is conducted to evaluate the degree of alertness, memory of recent incidents, cognitive functionality and orientation of surroundings. Multiple tests are conducted by various specialists who are involved in the therapy panel and the therapy is provided as intensive rehabilitation, daily care or weekly care based on the intensity of the results.
The team of therapists further device the most appropriate therapy methods based on the signs results and the cognitive requirements of the patient.
People who have suffered moderate to severe disruption of cognitive functions will receive daily therapy and people who have suffered mild traumatic injuries undergo less frequent therapies.
Types of Sessions –
The therapy is mainly focused on improving the activity and participation in the day to activities of life.
Therapy Sessions –
The initial evaluation is done by neuropsychologist. Subsequent therapy sessions can be done by a Neuropsychologists, Speech-Language pathologists or Occupational therapists. The therapy may include small activities that are focused on increasing the speed of attention and longevity, processing information, long and short-term memory to name a few.
The intensity of each activity will be gradually increased till the functionality reaches normalcy. Usage of emerging technologies and techniques enhances improvement in each session. Usage of videogames and virtual reality technologies remediate dysfunctionality in execution of coordinated activity, memory and attention functionality.
The drill and practice sessions improve the functionality of targeted areas. The technology bound activities and training strengthens the ability of judgement, adoption and improvisation.
The well-established and empirically validated therapy techniques are being employed widely by few of the best rehabilitation centres in Chennai.
Conclusion –
To conclude, increased awareness on the benefits of rehabilitation in making the person self-relied should be our first step in developing countries like India.
With therapy sessions that are focused on verbal learning, processing, memory, attention, coordination, expression, judgement and executive functioning are now possible through comprehensive CRT therapy sessions.
The techniques are constantly upgrading and the therapy sessions need to be rendered only at the advanced rehabilitation centres for better outcomes