Hi,

I have a brain injured man on my caseload and one thing he wants to work on is concentration and staying focussed and on topic during conversations.

Anyone got any tips?

Jill

Hi Jill,

This is a common problem with brain injury. One thing I always say to my clients is don't enter into social settings or important conversations if you are really tired. Fatigue is a major issue for many brain injured individuals and being tired is always going to make communication more difficult. So managing fatigue would be the first thing to deal with.

Being aware of the environment is also an issue. Communicating in a noisy or distracting environment is also going to make attention difficult.

Teaching your client to read other people's reactions and facial expressions can also help them receive a cue when he goes off topic.

I think self-monitoring is also an important skill to learn, but can be difficult and also fatiguing.


Hope that has helped you a little.

Regards Johan

Hi Jill
I'm not too good at finding my way around here yet, but I believe you posted a question sometime ago about a Parkinsons client with shortness of breath.
If you are still interested can you email me please. I have some experience of this myself.

Ian Parsons

Hi Ian,
The thread you are looking for is here: