Technology and Brain Injury: Friends or Foes?
When a person suffers a brain injury, there is often a mad rush by family members to find all possible ways to help in the recovery process. Technology is such a big part of life these days that there are many people who see technology as the wave of the future for treating brain injury deficits, and many therapists would agree.
According to Quora.com, more than 500 new apps are released around the world every day. With each new app there is a chance to live differently and learn something new. In the world of rehabilitation, new apps mean new ways for therapists to reach further into the world of technology to find different ways to help patients who have suffered a brain injury.
When looking for apps that can help with brain injury recovery, it’s important to remember a few key points:
- What is the purpose of the application?
- How difficult is the app to learn?
- Is there a cost for use?
- Are there different skill levels?
It’s important to think about what a patient needs when looking for a specific app to help with brain injury recovery. For example, if a patient needs to learn to read, an application with a lot of instructions would not be a good option. Finding an app with simple instructions, such as a focus on word completion or sentence completion, would be a good option. There are plenty of apps for adults that will also help with the process of learning to read, which can work well for people relearning those skills after a stroke or brain injury.
Apps that have complicated instructions or steps to start the program are generally not good for someone trying to work on cognitive skills. An app with two or three short descriptions for instructions, or individual step-by-step instructions that can be viewed while using the app, may work better.
There are thousands of free apps available for different types of smartphones and tablets. With free apps, there may still be app charges that go beyond the free portion of the download. It’s important to read the app details before purchase to make sure you don’t need a lot of money to play and participate.
The goal of an app when used as a therapeutic tool is to help someone improve function in a specific area. Some apps offer levels of difficulty so that when an area or level is reached, there is a next step to continue learning a task or practicing a skill. This leveled learning is useful when a patient wants to learn just one or two games, rather than having to get multiple apps to find increasingly difficult tasks to complete.
With any app purchase, it’s important to try them out: a free app is always a good option and is a way to find interesting and fun ways to work on therapeutic goals without getting bored. Try different games, even if they don’t feel interesting, as you’ll be amazed at what you can learn and how much even simple games can improve skills that have been disrupted by brain injury.
