Studies show that multi-disciplinary (MD) rehabilitation is beneficial to patients with brain damage from stroke. Some MD programs are also targeted to working-age adults who have brain injuries through trauma or other causes. These patients are younger than most stroke patients and may have different goals, such as returning to work or parenting. Brain-injured people can have a variety of difficulties, including problems with physical functions, communication, thought processes, behaviour, or emotions. The severity of the problems can vary from mild to severe. MD rehabilitation addresses one or more of the above areas instead of focusing on a single aspect such as physical (motor) function.
The authors of this Cochrane review looked for evidence on the effectiveness of MD rehabilitation in adults, aged 16 to 65 years, with acquired brain injury (ABI) from any cause. They looked for controlled trials in which one group of people received a treatment (such as MD rehabilitation) and was compared with a similar group that received a different treatment. They found 16 studies. As a whole, the studies suggested that patients with moderate to severe brain injury who received more intensive rehabilitation had earlier improvements. For mild brain injury, information and advice was usually more appropriate than intensive rehabilitation. There was not much evidence related to other aspects of MD rehabilitation, so the review authors recommend that more research be done. Rehabilitation for brain injury is such an individualised and long-term process that it can be difficult to draw general conclusions from research studies.