Neuro Rehab: different perspectives

Ever wondered what life holds after discharge from ICU for the families and partners of patients with a severe brain injury? This interview-style session will focus on the challenges, unexpected good and bad outcomes, positive and negative impacts on relationships, and other issues experienced by patients’ loved ones post-ICU. Hearing first-hand from a patient’s primary carer will highlight that ICU is only an extremely small component of a patient’s long journey to recovery and remind those involved in neurocritical care that whilst short-term physical outcomes dominate in a patient’s acute ICU stay, it is the long-term functional and social outcomes that ultimately matter most to patients and their families. It is easy to be distracted by the physical problems, but we must not forget the potential impacts of a severe brain injury on higher cognitive functioning when discussing long-term prognoses with families.