title: Integrating situated learning theory and neuropsychological research to facilitate patient participation and learning in traumatic brain injury rehabilitation patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Traumatic brain injury (TBI) constitutes a major health problem throughout the world. Despite interdisciplinary efforts, patients reach varying outcomes in terms of every-day life functioning and quality-of-life. This paper suggests that a situated learning perspective supplemented with evidence from neurophysiologic and neuropsychological research provides a perspective to get a grasp of problems typically encountered in rehabilitation. Applying such a perspective may help to facilitate patient participation and learning during the rehabilitation process by taking their altered abilities into consideration.
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative study. Theoretical analysis and synthesis of 'situated learning theory', neuropsychological theory and empirical studies of cognitive and emotional functioning following a TBI collected through interviews with 11 interdisciplinary rehabilitation experts and a field study of two patients at a rehabilitation hospital. The data were analysed from a hermeneutic perspective using N-VIVO 8.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with severe TBI pose challenges in terms of being participants in the 'rehabilitation practice community'. Two levels of pedagogical challenges seem to exist: Helping the patient regain or compensate for changed learning abilities and supporting the patient in learning or compensating for lost abilities. This study highlighted six main categories of changed abilities that need to be considered in developing a practice which fosters re-learning: perception, attention, memory, language, physical competencies and emotion/model of behaviour.
authors: Hammel Neurorehabilitation and Research Centre, Voldbyvej 15, Hammel, Denmark. lena.aadal@hammel.rm.dk
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Aadal
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Kirkevold