Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in Minnesota

Brain Rehabilitation at Mayo Clinic

Brain injury can lead to problems with thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Many people with brain injury find that returning to independent living, work or school presents challenges that they cannot meet alone.

Mayo Clinic offers several programs with a single goal — to help people with brain injury live as independently as possible within their family and community. Through the following programs, people with brain injury may gain the skills needed to rebuild their lives:

Brain Rehabilitation Outpatient Program (BROP)
Some people with brain injury benefit most from a comprehensive program where they meet in small groups and live in the community. The Brain Rehabilitation Outpatient Program is designed for these people. The program helps them learn about the effects of brain injury on daily living and gain peer support.

Community Reintegration Outpatient Group (CROG)
This program is for people with brain injury who benefit from continued but less intensive treatment. The group's purpose is to help people function well in the community with minimal support.

Mayo Interdisciplinary Program for Cognitive Rehabilitation (MIPCR)
Through this program, people with losses in specific thinking abilities, like memory and concentration, receive individual treatment.

Program Features

Mayo Clinic's programs for people with brain injury meet different needs. Yet these programs have certain features in common.

A professional team
Programs are managed by a team of professionals that may include a:

• Physiatrist (a rehabilitation physician)
• Neuropsychologist
• Physical therapist
• Occupational therapist
• Recreational therapist
• Speech pathologist
• Clinical social worker
• Vocational case coordinator
• Rehabilitation nurse

Comprehensive treatment
Team members work with program participants and family members at each step: establishing a date to start treatment, finding local housing and transportation, finding ways to pay for treatment, setting treatment goals and choosing ways to meet those goals.

Close communication
The professional team meets regularly to monitor the treatment and progress of each participant.

Connection to family
Family and friends are encouraged to participate in a number of program activities. On the second Wednesday of each month, program participants meet in a support group. These meetings also are open to family members, spouses or partners of current and past program participants.

"The Partnership Approach to Living with Brain Injury" teaches family members ways to cope with common problems following brain injury. This educational program is offered at least twice a year.

In all programs, the neuropsychologist, clinical social worker and other specialists are available to provide family education and support.

Connection to the community
Through contact with community agencies, team members help participants to live independently.