On the road to optimize rehabilitation for young individuals with acquired brain injury

Allonsius, F. (2024)

Doctoral Thesis

Identifying, targeting, and evaluating the consequences of Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) in young individuals (4-25 years old) are essential elements of medical specialist rehabilitation care for this group. Several knowledge gaps regarding the occurrence and severity of consequences and the delivery of rehabilitation existed.
This thesis enhanced the understanding of ABI-related consequences and aimed to optimize rehabilitation care provided to young Dutch individuals with ABI.
Section 1 of this thesis investigated the severity and course over 2 years of persisting ABI-related problems in young people with ABI and their families. In this cohort, many problems were found in the domains of Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL), fatigue, participation, and family impact at time of referral to rehabilitation and these problems tended to persist over time.
In section 2, the structure and process of rehabilitation for young patients with ABI across Dutch rehabilitation centers and the development of a national consensus-based framework for clinical practice, including preferred assessments, interventions, and psychoeducation, for young people with ABI was described.
This thesis emphasizes the importance of a holistic approach to rehabilitation and lays the foundation for future initiatives aiming to further optimize rehabilitation treatment for young individuals with ABI and their families.

• Rehabilitation
• Brain injury
• Young individuals
• Participation
• Fatigue
• Family impact
• Quality of life

• All authors: Allonsius, F.
• Supervisor: Vliet Vlieland, T.P.M.
• Co-supervisor: Holst, M. van der; Kloet, A.J. de
• Committee: Peul, W.C.; Hulst, H.E.; Gorter, J.W.; Rameckers, E.A.A.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Faculty of Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden University
• Date: 2024-06-25
• ISBN (print): 9789464698992
• Sponsorship: The studies in this thesis were financially supported by the Dutch Brain Foundation (Hersenstichting) (Section 1 and 2) and ‘HandicapNL’ (previously: Revalidatiefonds) (Section 1). The printing of this thesis was financially supported by Basalt rehabilitation.