Outcomes from Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Without Inpatient Rehabilitation
There has been little research comparing the different types and approaches to rehabilitation following brain injury. The current project proposed to compare initial status and one-year outcomes for persons with severe traumatic brain injuries who received acute rehabilitation, those who received care in other institutional settings, and those who were discharged directly to home. It was hypothesized that clinical differences in readiness for acute rehabilitation, as well as differences in severity of functional abilities, drive differences in trauma service discharge disposition for these three groups. We further hypothesized that functional abilities at one year would not differ significantly; however, community integration and subjective well-being were expected to be better for those individuals who received rehabilitation in an inpatient program. Results of this study could provide useful information for examining the structure and definition of the TBI Model System.