Gabrielle Giffords

Gif­fords’ recov­ery renews focus on cov­er­age gap for vet­er­ans (Mia­mi Herald):

- “Doc­tors and reha­bil­i­ta­tion spe­cial­ists have learned a great deal from the treat­ment of trau­mat­ic brain injuries in com­bat vet­er­ans of Iraq and Afghanistan. One in five vet­er­ans of those wars has suf­fered some form of trau­mat­ic brain injury, most com­mon­ly con­cus­sions from road­side bombs.”

- “Yet vet­er­ans’ health care does­n’t con­sis­tent­ly cov­er cog­ni­tive reha­bil­i­ta­tion ther­a­py, the same ther­a­py that’s helped Gif­fords and oth­er well-known fig­ures — such as Sen. Tim John­son of South Dako­ta and ABC News cor­re­spon­dent Bob Woodruff — get their lives back to nor­mal after major brain traumas.”

- “Cog­ni­tive reha­bil­i­ta­tion can include speech and com­mu­ni­ca­tion ther­a­pies, and ther­a­pies to boost mem­o­ry and social skills and relearn rou­tine tasks such as get­ting dressed and shop­ping at the gro­cery store.”

Relat­ed resources:

• 2009 meta analy­sis of the cog­ni­tive reha­bil­i­ta­tion literature
• Sharp­Brains inter­view with Lee Woodruff on Bob Woodruf­f’s cog­ni­tive recov­ery process, which we includ­ed in The Sharp­Brains Guide to Brain Fit­ness to raise aware­ness of this impor­tant topic.