Summer Foundation Podcasts

Podcast of the Specialist Disability Accommodation Workshop held in December 2016.

Professor Jacinta Douglas, Summer Foundation’s Chair of Living Well with Acquired Brain Injury at La Trobe University, presents a lecture on “Maximising community connection after brain injury: a multi-component program“.

This presentation will discuss associated reactions (ARs) of the arm and the impact these involuntary arm movements have on people with acquired brain injury. The many negative effects of ARs will be explored looking at both the physical and psychological sequelae. The challenges that currently exist in the field of ARs will be highlighted, with a primary focus on the need for clinicians to be able to accurately identify ARs and assess changes in response to treatment. Relevant literature will be outlined, emphasising the need for a new gold-standard, clinically feasible and functional outcome measure of ARs.

This lecture explores the complex nature of family resilience following acquired brain injury (ABI). While ABI literature has largely been dominated by a focus on family burden and stress, a focus on resilience presents a constructive approach to dealing with the trauma and loss associated with ABI. In her lecture, Franca Butera-Prinzi will present a systemic and dynamic view of resilience that is critical to helping families cope with the grief and stress surrounding ABI.

The NDIS is a long awaited reform, and one that has enormous potential to improve the lives of people with disability, especially those living in, or at risk of entering a nursing home. But what impact has it had to date and what are the implications of a system rolling out while still finding its feet? What is working, and what still needs tweaking? This year’s annual public forum explored some of the issues and opportunities surrounding the NDIS.

TOPIC: Return to Driving after Traumatic Brain Injury - Processes, Outcomes and Driver Rehabilitation PRESENTED BY: Pam Ross, Grade 4 Senior Occupational Therapist, Driving and Vocational Rehabilitation Coordinator, Epworth Rehabilitation.

TOPIC: Offenders with ABI in the Magistrates’ Court: Support services & sentencing considerations. PRESENTED BY: Deputy Chief Magistrate Ms Jelena Popovic

TOPIC: Evaluating models of housing and support for people with acquired brain injury. PRESENTED BY: Libby Callaway, Summer Foundation Research Manager and Lecturer, Monash University

TOPIC: Developing and maintaining a sense of self and social connection several years after severe brain injury. PRESENTED BY: Jacinta Douglas, PhD Professor of Acquired Brain Injury (Summer Foundation Chair, Living Well with Brain Injury), College of Science, Health and Engineering, La Trobe University

TOPIC: Physical activity levels following traumatic brain injury PRESENTED BY: Megan Hamilton, physiotherapist of the Epworth Rehabilitation TBI Community Integration team.