Combinations of peri- and post-injury factors appear to be influential in the development of PTSD among persons with SCI. Further studies are needed to extrapolate these findings to the broader spinal cord-injured population. More longitudinal research, driven by multicausal models of causation such as the diathesis-stress model, is also needed to determine the temporality of PTSD risk factors.

To optimize response to rehabilitation, it is important to understand the behavior of post-ICU patients within a full biopsychosocial context including debility, cognitive and emotional impairment, disruption of role identities, and environmental factors. The psychologist can provide education about predictable barriers to participation for the post-ICU patient, and guide individual, family and team interventions to ameliorate those barriers. (PsycINFO Database Record

Objective: To investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of an online motivational interviewing training program for rehabilitation professionals. Design: Pre-post design with two groups. Setting: Private rehabilitation hospital and an academic medical center Subjects: Group 1 included 19 motivational interviewing-experienced rehabilitation professionals. Group 2 included 25 motivational interviewing-naïve rehabilitation professionals. Interventions: Group 1 was exposed to an online motivational training program and Group 2 was exposed to an online motivational training program and a live booster session. Main measures: Motivational interviewing communication skills were measured with an adapted Helpful Responses Questionnaire. Knowledge and attitudes were measured with an adapted Motivational Interviewing Knowledge and Attitudes Test. Confidence, importance, and feasibility for implementing motivational interviewing were measured using the Motivational Interviewing Rulers. Results: Group 1 showed improvement in communication skills (2.6/5–3.3/5; P < 0.05) and confidence (6.0/01–7.4/10; P < 0.01) after online training. Improvements seen in skills and confidence were maintained at three months. Group 2 showed improvement in skills (2.1/5–3.3/5; P < 0.001), knowledge (7.7/10–8.5/10; P < 0.01), confidence (6.4/10–7.5/10; P < 0.01), and importance (8.3/10–8.9/10; P < 0.05) after online training. At three-months post-booster, improvements in communication skills and knowledge were maintained. Conclusions: Online training can be a cost and time effective approach to improve rehabilitation professionals’ skills in motivational interviewing. Follow-up training activities are needed to maintain the level of knowledge and skill improvement.

Rehabilitation has historically been a team enterprise, in recognition of the multifaceted needs of most patients requiring treatment, and psychologists have often, albeit not always, been considered "core" team members. "Regardless of setting or area of specialization, the rehabilitation psychologist is consistently involved in interdisciplinary teamwork" (Scherer et al., in press). However, there is a paucity of research that substantiates the benefit of the team concept, perhaps an understandable fact given the complexity, diversity, and idiosyncrasies of rehabilitation teams and the consequent difficulty of studying them empirically. (However, see Sander & Cons tan tinidou, 2008, for a discussion of team functioning in treatment of traumatic brain injury.) Nonetheless, teams of various shapes and sizes are the rule in many rehabilitation centers.

2016-12-24T18:18:19