- This page has been taken from Encephalitis – a guide, which was compiled by Elaine
Dowell and Ava Easton with advice and assistance from the Society's Professional
Advisory Panel and members of the Encephalitis Society.
It is available from
our Online
Shop
- A Fact sheet Transitional Rehabilitation is available.
The provision of rehabilitation varies widely among different parts of the country.
Many people will return straight home from hospital care after encephalitis. Others,
more seriously affected may need to be transferred to a specialist centre, with
full neuroscience facilities and an interdisciplinary team with specialist skills
in brain injury rehabilitation. Some centres have an outreach service available
to staff from local rehabilitation units. This team provides support to therapists
asked to work with people affected by encephalitis, who may have relatively little
experience of this illness and its after effects.
There is a directory of some rehabilitation services available on the Internet at
www.ukabif.org.uk/directory.
You can also call the Encephalitis Society 01653 699599 if you would like help finding
details of local, suitable centres.
Rehabilitation programmes should be based on the findings of various assessments,
and are sometimes available on an outpatient basis. Cognitive rehabilitation programmes
are a recent development but are increasingly becoming available. They are aimed
at improving functions such as memory, attention, problem-solving, anger etc and
helping individuals to work round difficulties in these areas. They teach compensatory
strategies for tackling these problems.
The Royal College of Physicians and the British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine
have produced national clinical guidelines for rehabilitation following acquired
brain injury. They were published in 2003 and information can be found at www.rcplondon.ac.uk there
is also a link from the Encephalitis Society web site.
These guidelines were developed by a multidisciplinary working party and provide
a comprehensive framework for the management of adults with acquired brain injury.
They set out the standards required for post-acute rehabilitation and longer-term
care. The guidelines are evidence based, covering not only clinical care but also
service provision, and were produced specifically to inform the National Service
Framework on Long-Term (Neurological) Conditions.
The Long-term (Neurological) Conditions National Service Framework (NSF) was launched
in March 2005. The NSF aims to transform the way health and social care services
support people to live with long-term neurological conditions. Key themes are independent
living, care planned around the needs and choices of the individual, easier, timely
access to services and joint working across all agencies and disciplines involved.
For further information about the NSF in your local area: www.longtermconditions.csip.org.uk
Last modified: October 2009