Cognitive rehabilitation focused on everyday function

Brain injury can affect much more than memory. Changes in attention, processing speed, executive functioning, fatigue and cognitive endurance can interfere with work, school, relationships and everyday activities.

Our occupational therapists provide individualized cognitive rehabilitation for adults experiencing functional changes following concussion, traumatic brain injury and other acquired brain injuries.

Treatment begins with an assessment of the client’s cognitive abilities, functional challenges and rehabilitation goals. Standardized cognitive measures may be combined with functional tasks and observation to understand how cognitive changes are affecting day-to-day life.

Rehabilitation is practical and individualized. Depending on the client’s needs, treatment may focus on developing compensatory strategies, strengthening cognitive skills and helping the client apply strategies within real-life activities.

Cognitive Rehabilitation

Treatment may address:

• attention and concentration
• memory and prospective memory
• planning, organization and problem solving
• executive functioning
• cognitive fatigue and pacing
• initiation and completion of daily activities
• return to school
• return to work
• development of compensatory strategies and routines

Whenever appropriate, treatment moves beyond the clinic and into the environments where difficulties occur. Sessions may take place in the client’s home, workplace or community so strategies can be practised within meaningful daily activities.

Cognitive Functional Capacity Evaluation

A Cognitive Functional Capacity Evaluation (CFCE) provides an objective assessment of cognitive and functional abilities.

Standardized assessment, clinical observation and functional or work-simulation activities are used to examine how cognitive abilities translate into performance over time.

The assessment may examine attention, memory, processing, executive functioning, cognitive endurance and the ability to manage increasingly complex tasks.

A CFCE may be helpful when determining current functional abilities, establishing a rehabilitation baseline, identifying barriers to return to work or comparing current abilities with the cognitive demands of a job.