DAWN STEWART BSC, MPA, PHD BRS 214 Introduction to Psychology Rehabilitation interventions and clinical psychology

Introduction to Psychology Cognitive intervention or rehabilitation includes every procedure that can help people with cognitive impairments to successfully engage in activities that are rendered difficult by those impairments. Cognitive intervention/rehabilitation is a wide-ranging and important field, and includes all of the intervention and support procedures including Attention, Memory and Memory Problems, Retrieval, Organization, Problem Solving, Concrete Versus Abstract Thinking, Instructional Routines, Executive Function/Self- Regulatory Routines.

Introduction to Psychology Cognition refers to mental processes Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. These processes include thinking,

Introduction to Psychology There are at least two ways to classify cognitive disabilities: by functional disability or by clinical disability. Functional disabilities ignore the medical or behavioral causes of the disability and instead focus on the resulting abilities and challenges. Clinical diagnoses of cognitive disabilities include autism, Down Syndrome, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and even dementia

Introduction to Psychology Some of the main categories of functional cognitive disabilities include deficits or difficulties with: Memory Problem-solving Attention Reading, linguistic, and verbal comprehension Math comprehension Visual comprehension

Introduction to Psychology The concept of cognitive disabilities is extremely broad, and not always well-defined. In loose terms, a person with a cognitive disability has greater difficulty with one or more types of mental tasks than the average person. Most cognitive disabilities have some sort of basis in the biology or physiology of the individual. The connection between a person's biology and mental processes is most obvious in the case of traumatic brain injury and genetic disorders, but even the more subtle cognitive disabilities often have a basis in the structure or chemistry of the brain.

Introduction to Psychology Focus and Goals Traditional Cognitive Retraining: The focus of intervention is on the underlying neuropsychological impairment, with the goal of restoring cognitive functions (e.g., attention, organization, memory, reasoning, problem solving). In this approach, residual cognitive skills are often utilized to assist weakened abilities. Increasingly the focus of treatment has come to include the use of compensatory strategies to augment restorative interventions and maximize intervention techniques across areas of functioning for the individual. Cognitive remediation is often done outside of the functional contexts or environments of the individual (e.g., in a hospital or clinical setting).

Introduction to Psychology Context-Sensitive Cognitive Intervention and Support: The focus of this approach is translating the underlying neuropsychological impairments into their negative impact on the person's functional activities in everyday life, and/or the individual’s participation in chosen life activities (e.g., school). Needed environmental adaptations and supports to make that participation possible and successful are of primary importance, along with compensatory strategies that might be of use to the student. The primary goal is to help individuals achieve their real-world objectives and participate in their chosen real-world activities that may be blocked by cognitive impairments. I In contrast to traditional cognitive remediation approaches, this intervention is typically embedded within the person's natural environments (e.g., in the home or classroom setting)..

Introduction to Psychology Traditional Cognitive Retraining: Both diagnosis and treatment planning are based on standardized neuropsychological tests, possibly combined with customized laboratory tasks. Testing identifies both cognitive strengths and weaknesses, upon which interventions are based. Outcome tends to be measured by similar tests at a later point in treatment. More recently practitioners working within the traditional framework have begun to add measures of changes in functioning in real- world activities to their test batteries.

Introduction to Psychology Context-Sensitive Cognitive Intervention and Support: Assessment takes place across three levels of functioning: Impairment: Standardized neuropsychological measures are used, with possible expansion of tasks to isolate the underlying processes that are affected in poor performance. Everyday Activities: Assessment includes systematic behavioral observations of everyday activities (static assessment) and exploration of variables that affect functional performance of everyday activities (dynamic assessment). Participation and Context: Surveys and reports of real-world participation may be used (static assessment) along with exploration of context variables that affect functional participation (dynamic assessment). The latter includes systematic behavioral observations of the competencies of those individuals providing the student with everyday supports (e.g., classroom assistants) as well as systematic attempts to improve those competencies.

Introduction to Psychology There are many services rehabilitation psychology provides. There is health and behavior consultation. This allows one to learn about information on a particular health condition and how it can affect one’s life. Counseling and psychotherapy. This is geared towards influencing one’s attitudes and emotions with the need to change one’s behavior. Cognitive remediation is a service that helps an individual achieve cognitive abilities necessary with school or work, or their life in general, and is important in their practice of independence in the community as well.

Introduction to Psychology Treatment Modalities and Methods Traditional Cognitive Retraining: Retraining relies largely on focused cognitive exercises designed to restore impaired cognitive processes or skills. These restorative exercises may be combined with the use of compensatory cognitive strategies to bypass deficits and augment cognitive functioning in daily activities. Family members or others may be involved in treatment to help generalize and practice techniques learned in remediation to the home and community setting.

Introduction to Psychology Context-Sensitive Cognitive Intervention and Support: Intervention and support includes flexible combination of cognitive exercises (if indicated and supported by evidence), task-specific training of relevant everyday skills, and intervention for strategic thinking and compensatory behavior in functional contexts. A critical intervention modality in this approach is environmental modifications, including changes in the support behaviors of relevant people in the individual’s natural environments (e.g., in home or school)..