'Rehabilitation is a process of change through which a brain injured person goes, seeking to regain former skills and to compensate for skills lost. Its aim is always to achieve the optimum levels of physical, cognitive and social competence followed by integration into the most suitable environment.'
The greatest visible progress occurs in the first 6 months, after which improvement is often more subtle and less obvious but it is important to bear in mind that progress does not stop after 2 years as has been suggested in the past. Rather, people continue to improve even 5, 10 or more years after a head injury.
Rehabilitation has two stages, the first being the formal intervention to improve the individual and the second stage is when the family and carers work to maintain that improvement. Research suggests that patients who make the best recovery are those whose family is actively involved and can maintain this informal rehabilitation at home.
