Returning the Individual with Traumatic Brain Injury to the Community: An Overview of Programs and Services in Israel.

Returning the Individual with Traumatic Brain Injury to the Community: An Overview of Programs and Services in Israel

Katz, S., and V. Florian, eds. Returning the Individual with Traumatic Brain Injury to the Community: An Overview of Programs and Services in Israel. Durham, Hew Hampshire: The International Exchange of Experts and Information in Rehabilitation, Institute on Disability, and the University of New Hampshire, 1991.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a staggering problem in the United States. More than seven hundred thousand cases of TBI occur annually with one hundred thousand deaths each year, and seventy to ninety thousand people are left with permanent disabilities that require rehabilitative measures. It is estimated that there is a prevalence of one million to one million, eight hundred thousand cases in the United States. Traumatic brain injury is an epidemic in the United States resulting in a one billion dollar a year industry. Since it typically occurs in young people (fifteen to thirty), those with permanent disabilities may live for many years.

The concept of community rehabilitation services for survivors of TBI has engendered widespread international attention. The state of Israel has been a pioneer in recognizing the potential benefit of a community oriented rehabilitation approach. The papers in this monograph describe a variety of community based programs that attempt to normalize the TBI survivors' process of readaptation by utilizing the community as a...