The use of rehabilitation methods for people with social behavior disorders following acquired brain injury : An exploratory study

Abstract

  Social behavior disorders are common sequelae of acquired brain injury. Currently, various treatment methods are used to manage these disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate which meth ods are preferred by clinicians in medical institutions in Japan to treat social behavior disorders following acquired brain injury. Questionnaires were sent to 800 medical institutions with a department of rehabilitation. The response rate was 32.8 %, and the majority of respondents were occupational therapists. The common treatment methods were classified into three categories based on their treatment goal：Identifying triggers of challenging behaviors, creating environments in which challenging behaviors are reduced, and stabilizing the mental state of the patient. A few respondents used the treatment methods of following two categories：Improving self-awareness on oneʼs social behaviors and promoting the learning of appropriate social behaviors. Therapists in the medical institutions that provide both medical and vocational rehabilitation services generally showed higher response rates for each method of the questioned treatments than therapists in medical institutions that provide only medical rehabilitation. The most striking difference between respondents from these two types of institutions was in their use of group interventions.