Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment for the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The lived experience of people with PD suggests a process of adjustment follows. This study aimed to explore the adjustment and associated education and support needs of people with PD undergoing DBS and their family members across the continuum of the DBS experience.

A structured qualitative description study including semi-structured interviews with people with PD (n = 14), family members (n = 10) and clinicians (n = 11) was conducted to explore lived experiences, needs, perspectives and clinical considerations. Inductive analysis indicated common temporal stages related to undergoing DBS, and the related experiences and needs were mapped.

Four stages, each with unique needs, emerged: Considering DBS involved needs for peer-based education and realistic, meaningful goal setting; Surgery and Support shifted to clinical support related to the surgery and support for the person and their family around immediate changes experienced; Seeking Stability focused on timely clinical and practical support for the person and family around new changes and challenges to symptoms, behaviours and roles; and Next Steps involved direction and support for reengagement in the self-management of the condition, and current and future changes related to PD.

All participants with PD and their family members in this study indicated that overall their experiences with DBS had led to positive changes in their symptoms and lives. Consideration of different needs at different times in the process may be applied within clinical practice to support adjustment.

Currently, there is increasing recognition of the need to use a client-centred approach to goal setting in rehabilitation. However, there is limited research to guide practice with community-dwelling clients with acquired brain injury. An understanding of the characteristics of client-centred goals and the extent to which client-centeredness influences goal outcomes is required.

To examine the relationships between the client-centredness of goals and their characteristics, content, recall and outcomes of client-centred goals in brain injury rehabilitation.

A prospective cohort design study was employed. Participants were 45 clients with brain injury receiving outpatient rehabilitation, who completed measures of client-centredness after goal setting. Each goal was classified according to whether it was specific, measurable, non-jargonistic, and participation-focussed, included a timeframe and was recalled by participants.

Participants set 223 goals with 20 clinicians from multiple disciplines. Levels of client-centredness did not differ according to the characteristics, content and recall of goals, with the exception of goal specificity (p < 0.01). Client-centredness was significantly and positively correlated with goal outcomes (p < 0.05).

The use of client-centred goals is recommended for improved rehabilitation outcomes. Applying goal documentation criteria does not necessarily mean that goals will be client-centred, and highly specific goal statements may not reflect what is important and meaningful to clients.

Indigenous youth are vulnerable to concussion when playing hockey. A clear characterisation of sex differences among Indigenous youth could assist in tailoring future education programmes for prevention and management of concussion. The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast concussion knowledge, attitudes and resources in First Nations girls and boys playing recreational hockey.

The cross-sectional survey was conducted in partnership with a First Nations’ chief, other Indigenous community leaders and a tertiary care head injury clinic. In Canada, researchers engaging with Indigenous peoples are expected to adhere to principles of Ownership, Control, Access and Possessions. The study included Indigenous boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 18 years of age.

More girls attending the hockey tournament participated in the study as compared to boys (girls n = 46, boys n = 29). More girls reported they had never experienced a concussion (73.9%), as compared to boys (58.6%) self-reports. Less than half of all study participants were able to identify some signs and symptoms of concussion such as vomiting/nausea, memory problems, fatigue and blurred vision and recognition of several concussion symptoms varied by sex.

We created a unique partnership between Indigenous leaders and tertiary care clinic staff. Among Indigenous youth reasons for not reporting concussion symptoms to the coach varied by sex (although not reaching statistical significance), suggesting concussion education warrants tailoring for girls and boys.

To determine accessibility of the primary healthcare system for patients with stroke recently discharged from hospital.

This project mapped retrospective patient location data and the location of primary healthcare services in the same region. Patient location data were from all patients with stroke (N = 1595: January 2011–January 2017) discharged from one metropolitan hospital to the local Primary Health Network. Geographic Information System technology was used to map the patient discharge locations and the spatial distribution of primary healthcare services (general practitioner, pharmacy, allied health) across the region. Road network data were used to measure the level of access from each patient’s discharge location to the services.

Access to primary healthcare services was variable. Areas with larger proportions of patients with stroke did not necessarily have good service access. With an increase in travel time, the number of services accessible to patients also increased. However, the spatial variation of access to services remained largely unchanged.

Access to primary healthcare services for patients with stroke varies spatially, with a trend towards relatively low levels of accessibility for many patients. There is an urgent need for future planning to consider geographical access to primary healthcare services for patients with stroke.

The overarching cultural context of the brain injury survivor, particularly that related to minority peoples with a history of colonisation and discrimination, has rarely been referred to in the research literature, despite profoundly influencing a person’s recovery journey in significant ways, including access to services. This study highlights issues faced by Australian Aboriginal traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors in terms of real-life consequences of the high incidence of TBI in this population, current treatment and long-term challenges.

A case study approach utilised qualitative interview and file review data related to five male Aboriginal TBI survivors diagnosed with acquired communication disorders. The five TBI survivors were from diverse areas of rural and remote Western Australia, aged between 19 and 48 years at the time of injury, with a range of severity.

Common themes included: significant long-term life changes; short-term and long-term dislocation from family and country as medical intervention and rehabilitation were undertaken away from the person’s rural/remote home; family adjustments to the TBI including permanent re-location to a metropolitan area to be with their family member in residential care; challenges related to lack of formal rehabilitation services in rural areas; poor communication channels; poor cultural security of services; and lack of consistent follow-up.

These case reports represent some of the first documented stories of Aboriginal Australian TBI survivors. They supplement available epidemiological data and highlight different contexts for Aboriginal people after TBI, contributing to an overall profile that is relevant for rehabilitation service planning.

In a landmark publication, O’Keefe & Dostrovsky (1971) presented a model for spatial navigation in the rat, the cognitive map theory. In this theory they proposed that the processing and storage of spatial information for spatial navigation takes place in the hippocampus. The theory was extended to include the contribution of the grid cells in the medial entorhinal cortex (Hafting et al. 2005). The cognitive map theory has been widely applied to spatial navigation in humans as well as rats. In this paper, an alternative theory is proposed in which spatial processing takes place in the right parieto-temporo-occipital area in humans, and that damage to this area causes a fragmentation in the sense of space, affecting the recall of both visual and tactile spatial information.

A group of eight subjects with damage to the right parieto-temporo-occipital area and a fragmented sense of space was assessed on tests of spatial navigation and memory and the results were compared with a group of patients with damage to the right hippocampus. Other comparison groups included left and right hemisphere subjects with normal spatial functioning.

The results suggest that, in the human, damage to the right parieto-temporo-occipital area causes a fragmentation in the sense of space, as well as an impaired memory for spatial material in both the visual and tactile modalities. These results support a model of spatial navigation in which the integrity of the right parieto-temporo-occipital area, and not the right hippocampus, is a necessary condition for the processing of spatial information in humans. An alternative explanation for the functioning of the right hippocampus is also presented.

A growing body of qualitative literature globally describes post-hospital experiences during early recovery from a traumatic brain injury. For Indigenous Australians, however, little published information is available. This study aimed to understand the lived experiences of Indigenous Australians during the 6 months post-discharge, identify the help and supports accessed during transition and understand the gaps in service provision or difficulties experienced.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted at 6 months after hospital discharge to gain an understanding of the needs and lived experiences of 11 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians who had suffered traumatic brain injury in Queensland and Northern Territory, Australia. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.

Five major themes were identified within the data. These were labelled ‘hospital experiences’, ‘engaging with medical and community-based supports’, ‘health and wellbeing impacts from the injury’, ‘everyday living’ and ‘family adjustments post-injury’.

While some of the transition experiences for Indigenous Australians were similar to those found in other populations, the transition period for Indigenous Australians is influenced by additional factors in hospital and during their recovery process. Lack of meaningful interaction with treating clinicians in hospital, challenges managing direct contact with multiple service providers and the injury-related psychological impacts are some of the factors that could prevent Indigenous Australians from receiving the supports they require to achieve their best possible health outcomes in the long term. A holistic approach to care, with an individualised, coordinated transition support, may reduce the risks for re-admission with further head injuries.

Increasingly, narrative and creative arts approaches are being used to enhance recovery after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Narrative and arts-based approaches congruent with Indigenous storytelling may therefore provide benefit during the transition from hospital to home for some Indigenous TBI patients. This qualitative study explored the use and impact of this approach as part of a larger, longitudinal study of TBI transition with Indigenous Australians.

A combined narrative and arts-based approach was used with one Indigenous Australian artist to describe his transition experiences following TBI. Together with the researchers and filmmaking team, the artist was involved in aspects of the process. The artist contributed two paintings, detailing the story of his life and TBI. Based on the artworks, a film was co-created. Following the viewing of the film, impacts of the narrative and arts-based process were examined through semi-structured interviews with the artist, a service provider and a family member. Multiple sources of data were used in the final thematic analysis including transcripts of the interviews and filming, paintings (including storylines) and researcher notes.

Positive impacts from the process for the artist included positive challenge; healing and identity; understanding TBI and raising awareness.

This approach may enable the individual to take ownership over their transition story and to make sense of their life following TBI at a critical point in their recovery. A combined narrative and arts-based approach has potential as a culturally responsive rehabilitation tool for use with Indigenous Australians during the transition period following TBI.

To explore whether the improvement in self-awareness induced by a structured intervention programme in patients suffering a brain injury is associated with an enhancement in their functional outcomes.

This study uses a pre- and post-test control group design with a sample of 56 patients with acquired brain injury randomly assigned to an experimental and a control group. Pre- and post-intervention measurements were self-awareness (using a previously developed scale) and functional outcome (using the Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale).

Patients who received the intervention programme showed a greater improvement in their self-awareness level and functional outcome than patients in the control group. Additionally, the correlation analyses between improvements at both measures showed a relation between improvement in self-awareness and improvement in functional outcome, especially when the pre-treatment self-awareness level was considered.

Implementing an intervention programme in self-awareness, in the context of a global rehabilitation process of patients with acquired brain injury, is useful for improving their self-awareness level and the functionality in their daily activities.

A high prevalence of dementia among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders has been reported but knowledge of underlying causes and associations remains limited.

To identify the prevalence of factors that may be associated with the categories of Major neurocognitive disorders (Major NCDs) in Aboriginal people living in residential aged care facilities in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory (NT).

This descriptive cross-sectional study analysed clinical file and cognitive assessment data of participants who were identified as having cognitive impairment between January and June 2016.

Screening for the presence of cognitive impairment using the Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment (KICA) was undertaken and 58 of 84 Aboriginal people were admitted to the study. Using a clinical file audit, diagnoses of Major NCDs consistent with the DSM-5 classification were made and the prevalence of factors possibly associated with these diagnoses described.

Fifty of the 58 participants were diagnosed with a Major NCD. The most frequent diagnoses were Major NCD due to vascular disease (30%), Major NCD due to Alzheimer’s Disease (26%) and Major NCD due to brain injury (20%). Hypertension, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and alcohol misuse were commonly reported together with hypothyroidism, hypoglycaemia and vitamin D deficiency.

This study identified possible associations with Major NCDs in this population as well as a different spread of Major NCD diagnoses to previous studies in Aboriginal populations. There is a need for further research to understand the causes of dementia in Australian Aboriginal people and to use this information to appropriately tailor treatment and prevention programmes.