Ted Freeman and the Battle for the Injured Brain

This book recounts some experiences of young Australians with catastrophic brain injuries, their families and the medical system which they encountered. Whilst most of the events described occurred two to three decades ago they raise questions relevant to contemporary medical practice. The patients...

Descrición completa

Gardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor Principal: McCullagh, Peter
Formato: Online
Idioma:inglés
Publicado: ANU Press 2023
Subjects:
Acceso en liña:ONIX_20231005_9781922144324_2061
Tags: Engadir etiqueta
Sen Etiquetas, Sexa o primeiro en etiquetar este rexistro!
_version_ 1869527012265164800
author McCullagh, Peter
author_browse McCullagh, Peter
author_facet McCullagh, Peter
author_sort McCullagh, Peter
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description This book recounts some experiences of young Australians with catastrophic brain injuries, their families and the medical system which they encountered. Whilst most of the events described occurred two to three decades ago they raise questions relevant to contemporary medical practice. The patients whose stories are told were deemed to be ‘unsuitable for rehabilitation’ and their early placement in nursing homes was recommended. In 2013, it is time to acknowledge that the adage of ‘one size fits all’ has no place in rehabilitation in response to severe brain injury. Domiciliary rehabilitation, when practicable, may be optimal with the alternative of slow stream rehabilitation designed to facilitate re-entry into the community. Patients’ families were impelled to undertake heroic carers’ commitments as a reaction to nihilistic medical prognoses. It is time for the Australian health care system to acknowledge those commitments, and the budgetary burden which they lift from the system by providing family members with support to retrieve career opportunities, most notably in education and employment, which have been foregone in caring. Medical attendants repeatedly issued negative prognoses which were often confounded by the patient’s long term progress. Hopefully, those undertaking the acute care of young people with severe brain injury will strive to acquire an open mind and recognise that a prognosis based on a snapshot observation of the patient, without any longer term contact provides a flawed basis for a prognosis. The story of these patients and of Dr Ted Freeman has wider implications.
format Online
id doab-20.500.12854ir-116350
institution Directory of Open Access Books
language eng
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher ANU Press
publisherStr ANU Press
record_format ojs
spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1163502024-03-31T13:08:43Z Ted Freeman and the Battle for the Injured Brain McCullagh, Peter Health Sciences thema EDItEUR::M Medicine and Nursing::MB Medicine: general issues::MBD Medical profession::MBDC Medical ethics and professional conduct This book recounts some experiences of young Australians with catastrophic brain injuries, their families and the medical system which they encountered. Whilst most of the events described occurred two to three decades ago they raise questions relevant to contemporary medical practice. The patients whose stories are told were deemed to be ‘unsuitable for rehabilitation’ and their early placement in nursing homes was recommended. In 2013, it is time to acknowledge that the adage of ‘one size fits all’ has no place in rehabilitation in response to severe brain injury. Domiciliary rehabilitation, when practicable, may be optimal with the alternative of slow stream rehabilitation designed to facilitate re-entry into the community. Patients’ families were impelled to undertake heroic carers’ commitments as a reaction to nihilistic medical prognoses. It is time for the Australian health care system to acknowledge those commitments, and the budgetary burden which they lift from the system by providing family members with support to retrieve career opportunities, most notably in education and employment, which have been foregone in caring. Medical attendants repeatedly issued negative prognoses which were often confounded by the patient’s long term progress. Hopefully, those undertaking the acute care of young people with severe brain injury will strive to acquire an open mind and recognise that a prognosis based on a snapshot observation of the patient, without any longer term contact provides a flawed basis for a prognosis. The story of these patients and of Dr Ted Freeman has wider implications. 2023-10-05T11:02:34Z 2023-10-05T11:02:34Z 2013 book ONIX_20231005_9781922144324_2061 9781922144324 9781922144317 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/116350 eng image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/j.ctt46n318 ANU Press 10.2307/j.ctt46n318 10.2307/j.ctt46n318 975ba519-3ce2-4517-95bf-b847729fbcf1 9781922144324 9781922144317 open access
spellingShingle Health Sciences
thema EDItEUR::M Medicine and Nursing::MB Medicine: general issues::MBD Medical profession::MBDC Medical ethics and professional conduct
McCullagh, Peter
Ted Freeman and the Battle for the Injured Brain
title Ted Freeman and the Battle for the Injured Brain
title_full Ted Freeman and the Battle for the Injured Brain
title_fullStr Ted Freeman and the Battle for the Injured Brain
title_full_unstemmed Ted Freeman and the Battle for the Injured Brain
title_short Ted Freeman and the Battle for the Injured Brain
title_sort ted freeman and the battle for the injured brain
topic Health Sciences
thema EDItEUR::M Medicine and Nursing::MB Medicine: general issues::MBD Medical profession::MBDC Medical ethics and professional conduct
topic_facet Health Sciences
thema EDItEUR::M Medicine and Nursing::MB Medicine: general issues::MBD Medical profession::MBDC Medical ethics and professional conduct
url ONIX_20231005_9781922144324_2061
work_keys_str_mv AT mccullaghpeter tedfreemanandthebattlefortheinjuredbrain