Rehabilitation in Traumatic Brain Injury — Observations on the Current US Scene

Abstract

Dr. Howard Rusk, a major figure in the field of rehabilitation medicine in the United States, defined rehabilitation as the third phase of medical care designed to deliver services to accommodate the needs and optimize functioning in the physical, psychological, vocational and social areas for the individual with enduring impairments and disabilities due to disease or trauma. Dr. Rusk’s insight did not predicate a particular technical or theoretical breakthrough or the development of a new diagnostic technique or therapy. Rather, it was based on the idea of organizing all the services needed to help the individual, in a way to meet the convenience of the patient and enhance utilization. While this idea hardly seems novel now, it should be recalled that in the United States it emerged at the time of World War II. It revolutionized delivery of services to the disabled in a way similar to the introduction of the supermarket. The supermarket was not designed to create new products. It was designed to make shopping more convenient for the consumer.