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In an instant, a brain injury can cause changes that affect a person for a lifetime. Although traumatic brain injury (TBI) can result in almost any neurological deficit, the most common and persistent deficits tend to affect neurocognitive functioning. Functional issues may produce a tremendous chronic burden on individuals, families, and healthcare systems (Thurman, Alverson, Dunn, Guerrero, & Sniezek, 1999; Yu et al., 2003). The far-reaching impact of these seemingly “invisible” deficits is often not recognized. Individuals who have suffered a TBI may also be at increased risk for developing cognitive changes later in life (Mauri et al., 2006; Schwartz, 2009; Van Den Heuvel, Thornton, & Vink, 2007). Military veterans report even higher rates of persistent issues, especially in the context of posttraumatic stress (PTS) (Polusny et al., 2011). Despite their importance, chronic neurocognitive dysfunctions are often poorly addressed. A long-term view on care-oriented research and development is needed (Chen & D’Esposito, 2010). Even as we get deeper into the 21st century, there continue to be many gaps in the rehabilitation of neurocognitive functioning after brain injury. There is a need for increased effort to advance rehabilitation care and delivery. There are two major gaps in care that could benefit from neuroscience research and technology-assisted intervention development. First, there remains a major need for theory-driven approaches to cognitive training, accompanied by the development of innovative tools to support learning of useful skills and their generalization to help achieve real-life goals. Second, major gaps in the delivery and coordination of rehabilitation must be addressed in order to provide care to the many people with brain injury who lack access to services due to barriers imposed by distance, financial constraints, and disability. This chapter introduces and illustrates some technology-assisted innovations that may help to advance neurocognitive rehabilitation care. Examples of using technology to reach into the community via tele-rehabilitation, as well as examples of reaching students in a manner aligned with their scholastic goals, are discussed. |
