Rehabilitation does not cause recovery, but helps the person make the most of recovery that occurs spontaneously. Most rehabilitation is an active learning process.

Stages of rehabilitation

Stage 1: Acute rehabilitation
This acute stage involves initial management to ensure the person is medically stable in the Intensive Care Unit and high dependency wards. Acute rehabilitation normally occurs within hospital with a strong focus on physical recovery and regaining independent living skills.

Stage 2: Post-acute rehabilitation/community re-settlement
This stage involves managing the transition from hospital back home, and the ongoing process of rehabilitation that occurs after discharge. The focus of rehabilitation at this stage may include return to work or study, finding alternatives where this is not possible and relearning skills for community living.

Stage 3: Social rehabilitation
This is the long-term rehabilitation aimed at maintaining and enhancing the level of participation in community life that people with TBI can achieve over their life span (community integration).

Pathways

Some of the pathways through rehabilitation are: