Last year I produced a pamphlet on brain injuries. People with acquired brain injuries are a population that interests me and with which I will do an internship this year.
Throughout my research, I realized that people with brain injuries often had difficulty in social interactions and more particularly with social codes and the identification of emotions and expectations of others. I am particularly interested in this topic, and I created a pamphlet that would explain to patients and their families, what is a brain injury, the disabilities it can cause in the patient’s life, and more specifically, a disability often called “invisible” which is a deficit in social cognition.
Several situations can bring brain injury. For example, stroke, traumatic brain injury, tumor, take drugs. All these events will cause cerebral damages and will change neuron functioning, cells who allow the brain to work (Patients cérébrolésés, 2015). These changes will cause difficulties in different areas, motor, memory, language. But too, social cognition deficit. (Patients cérébrolésés, 2015 ; Bocoyran & Joyeux, 2016 ; Rééducation suite à un traumatisme cérébral, s.d).
Social cognition is all cerebral functions which allow to interact with others people (Bocoyran & Joyeux, 2016). For example, understand tone of voice of his conversation partner to know if he is happy or angry.
It gathers some functions, identifying and understanding conversation partner emotions. But also what we call theory of mind, in other words the ability to understand other’s intention. For example, in some situations, if someone says he is hot, to understand he wants we open the window. Finally, social cognition allows us to understand the rules which regulate sociales interactions (Jacon, 2012). For example, we can’t speak to our boss as our friend.
In this pamphlet, beyond informing the patient and simply defining what a brain injury and its consequences in general and more particularly on social cognition. It seemed important to me to propose an action’s plan to counter these difficulties. Indeed, I think that the work of the neuropsychologist involves building a rehabilitation of disorders with the patient and proposing solutions that involve individual monitoring but also in groups.
So, I investigated methods of stimulation and cognitive remediation and I discovered programs that allowed a remediation of social cognition in different populations including brain injuries. Inspired by the different programs and projects that I could cross on the net, I created a fictional group of cognitive stimulation for patients.
During the construction, I think about how to bring the patient to join this group. In fact, during my reading I believed to understand that brain-damaged patients don’t know they have daily troubles. So, I tried to give some concret examples in order the patients can aware there is something wrong in their social interactions or this pamphlet can be a way of mediation between helper and patient in order the patient can accept what the helper says about his troubles.
So, I invited patients to question themselves about different difficulties they might encounter. Especially if people have already told them that they have trouble understanding what they were saying or if they had already been accused of being rude.
Then I presented several activities that could be implemented in this type of stimulation group and that I found on existing programs. Notably the fact that there are times of exchange on the issues of each, the use of role plays, photos and video watching. (Bocoyran & Joyeux, 2016)
This pamphlet is of course fictitious and I realize that the limited time of presence of neuropsychologists in the structures does not always allow to set up groups of cognitive stimulation, but I hope to be able to deepen my knowledge on the subject during my internship and one day use this brochure for my patients and their families.
Keywords : Brain Injuries, Pamphlet, Cognition Social Deficit, Cognitive stimulation
Words I have learned :
Stroke : Attaque, AVC
Internship : Stage
Beyond : au-delà
To counter : Pour contrer
Brain-damaged : Cerveau endommagé
Bibliography :
– Anne, Patients cérébrolésés. (2015). En ligne : https://comalso.be/cerebro-lese/. Consulté le 30 Janvier 2019, sur adresse URL
– Bocoyran, S., & Joyeux, F. (2016). Rééducation collective et éducation thérapeutique de la cognition sociale chez des patients cérébrolésés. Revue de neuropsychologie, 8, 25–30.
– Rééducation suite à un traumatisme cérébral | HAPPYneuron Pro. (2014). En ligne: http://www.scientificbraintrainingpro.fr/therapies/traumatisme-cerebral. Consulté le 30 Janvier 2019, sur adresse URL
– Jacon, D. (2012). Remédiation de la cognition sociale dans la pathologie schizophrénique. Aspects théoriques et Impact clinique du programme ToM-Remed. (Diplôme d’état de docteur en médecine, Université de Nantes, Nantes). En ligne : https://docplayer.fr/35725272-Remediation-de-la-cognition-sociale-dans-la-pathologie-schizophrenique-aspects-theoriques-et-impact-clinique-du-programme-tom-remed.html
Maëlis Durand