Rehabilitation Services

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