Efficacy of an educationally-based cognitive retraining programme for traumatically head-injured as measured by LNNB pre- and post-test scores

Abstract

Traumatic head-injuries have been described as a national ‘silent epidemic’ (Wall Street Journal [1]) and within the medical rehabilitation field it is becoming increasingly recognized that the care and service needs for this population significantly surpass the typical scope of acute rehabilitation services. From the literature, it is suggested that long-term recovery is contingent upon the person remaining within a structured, therapeutic environment. Cognitive retraining is one such area of therapeutic- service. The major goal of an educational retraining programme for traumatically head-injured students is to maximize each individual's potential for independent functioning, which is promoted through improvement in cognitive functioning, social and emotional adjustments and transitional living experiences. The pre- and post-tests results for this were analysed collectively utilizing standard T-test comparison procedures for groups with correlated means (SPSS 1983). The results of each student were then analysed individually utilizing the procedure described for subjects measured with the LNNB by Knight and Godfrey (1983).