Loss of self-esteem due to acquired brain injury : a multidisciplinary team approach to a single case study

Graduation date: 1988There are between one and two million\ud occurrences of head injuries in this country each\ud year causing an estimated 140,000 deaths. Fifty to\ud seventy thousand who survive are left with such\ud intellectual impairment as to preclude returning to a\ud normal life. The purpose of this study is to\ud investigate the effects of a multidisciplinary team\ud approach for a brain-injured individual in the\ud learning of alternate responses to his environment\ud with a consequent rise in self-esteem.\ud A survey of the literature provided an\ud overview of the different cognitive losses\ud experienced by persons with severe head injury as\ud well as patterns in behavior change. It also\ud explored past and current rehabilitation techniques.\ud There was no research found that used a\ud multidisciplinary team approach to a single subject\ud study. There was a scant amount of material\ud involving the loss of self-esteem due to brain\ud injury.\ud Participating professionals from a state\ud hospital brain trauma rehabilitation unit formed a\ud multidisciplinary team to evaluate, plan and provide\ud treatment for a head trauma victum. The primary\ud purposewas to measure the difference in self-esteem.\ud Other deficit areas of impaired speech, memory loss,\ud gait disturbance and loss of self-esteem were\ud evaluated and treated.\ud The areas of speech and memory loss were\ud treated with no significant improvement. The gait\ud disturbance was not considered dysfunctional enough\ud to treat. The patient's self-esteem reflected\ud considerable Improvement, thus the data supported the\ud hypotheses: The subject will make gains in\ud self-esteem, provided a multidisciplinary team\ud approach is used