Traumatic Brain Injury - rebuilding mind and body
Traumatic brain injury impacts every dimension of a person's life — from cognition and emotion to movement and independence. Andrew Rothwell and Dr James McLoughlin will explore a positive framework for assessment, rehabilitation, and long-term recovery in an integrated session that reflects true best-practice TBI care.
Dr James McLoughlin
Neurological Physiotherapist
Dr Andrew Rothwell
Neuropsychologist
Concussion and mTBI: From Injury to recovery and Return to Work
This presentation will review the latest evidence for the assessment and rehabilitation of concussion and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), including current ‘Return to Learn’, ‘Return to Sport’, and ‘Return to Work’ frameworks. Participants will explore how individualised, evidence-based rehabilitation and multidisciplinary support can enhance recovery outcomes, while addressing common challenges such
as persistent symptoms, personal agency, misinformation, stigma, workplace culture, and appropriate workplace accommodations.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the key principles of contemporary concussion rehabilitation, including recognition, red flags, early education, advice and support, sub-symptom threshold activity, cervicovestibular and visual rehabilitation, workplace modifications, and timely referral pathways, and understand how these strategies complement generic return-to-activity protocols.
- Recognise factors that may influence recovery and return to work, including persistent symptoms, psychological factors, and the role of performance and symptom validity assessment within a comprehensive multidisciplinary evaluation.
- Describe the complementary roles of the multidisciplinary team—including occupational physicians, physiotherapists, neuropsychologists, psychologists, orthoptists and other allied health professionals—in evaluating recovery, including cognitive function, performance validity, symptom validity, and barriers to successful return to work.
