Stopping and thinking about what was and what’s to be…

The end of the year always brings with it an opportunity to pause and consider what happened, celebrate the things we achieved and reflect on the challenges we faced. 2024 is no different, so we put a strategy we often deploy to some good use, and paused to think about the last 12 months… 

The year started strong, with the publication of the Too Many to Count report, a study led by colleagues in our Policy and Social Change team. Alongside the publication, which showed that one in two people who have experienced domestic abuse in England and Wales may be living with a brain injury, Dr Annmarie Burns, Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist and Steffy Bechelet, Domestic Abuse and Brain Injury Researcher, were both interviewed in the BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour, along with a contribution prepared by a participant of the study. The full report is available for download on the Brainkind website, and the interview on BBC Radio 4.  

We also concluded an initial evaluation of the feasibility and acceptability of SyncVR, a virtual reality headset. We found that the use of the headset appeared to increase engagement in rehabilitation and that both the people we support and staff who experienced the VR headsets saw them as an added value, increasing entertainment and leisure options. We now aim to explore further whether this technology helps increasing the intensity or repetition of rehab exercises and to better understand the factors driving tolerability. Although we did not observe any negative side effects (e.g. cybersickness), we hope that continued use will help us better understand who can benefit most from this technology and how (e.g. frequency and length of sessions). Something that we will continue to work on in 2025! 

In March, we took part in the Neuroconvention and presented a paper on the factors influencing response completion on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) in people with severe acquired brain injury at the annual meeting of the British Neuropsychiatry Association (BNPA). Natalia Masztalerz, then Assistant Psychologist within the research team, who co-authored the study, also wrote a brief overview of the event for our Research Digest. Readers can find out more here: https://brainkind.org/highlights-from-bnpa-annual-meeting/. 

By May, we turned our attention to artificial intelligence, and explored to what extent it is being used within brain injury rehabilitation settings. We were pleased to have the opportunity to publish the findings of our very rapid review of this topic in issue 17 of The Neuropsychologist, a British Psychological Society publication focusing on issues relevant to neuropsychology and the ongoing work of the Society’s Division of Neuropsychology.   

The Summer was also quite busy, with two important events for anyone working in neuropsychology. Then, several members of the Brainkind team stopped over in Coimbra in Portugal to attend the 21st NR-SIG-WFNR conference, and then headed to Porto to attend the Global Neuropsychology Conference. We had the opportunity to present on a range of topics at this event. Dr Mar Matarin presented a study on predictors of aggressive behaviour after severe brain injury and Dr Annmarie Burns revisited the findings of our Too Many to Count report exploring the associations between brain injury and domestic abuse, on day one of the conference, and on day two, presented on the clinical outcomes of our Brain Injury Linkworker service in prisons. This presentation, titled “Neurorehabilitation behind closed doors”, won the award for the best Datablitz presentation of Day Two!  

In Porto, at the Global Neuropsychology Conference, our Clinical Director, Professor Rudi Coetzer and Dr Sara da Silva Ramos were panellists in a seminar on new perspectives on psychotherapy after brain injury organized by Dr Christian Salas (Universidade Diego Portales, Chile), alongside Dr Giles Yeates, who talked about supporting sexuality following brain injury, including a UK-based study evaluating a new approach to couples therapy, which will soon be looking for volunteers to participate. Part of our contribution considered our rehab mantras, and to what extent conceptualising complex principles in this way, through short, memorable and repeatable statements, may help support understanding and engagement in rehabilitation and psychotherapy for people with acquired brain injury. Our colleague, Dr Miles Rogish, presented on the results of a study exploring the cross-cultural differences on the impact of autism diagnoses on parents’ experiences. 

The year could not have ended better, as we found out that the project “Neurorehabilitation behind closed doors: examining male service user experience of brain injury interventions delivered in prison and probation services” won the Research Project of the Year Award from Neuro Rehab Times, sponsored by OML. This study showed how the brain injury linkworker (BIL), developed and delivered by the Policy and Social Change team at Brainkind since 2013, and which provides tailored brain injury interventions directly to people in prison and on probation, led to a reduction in brain injury symptoms, and also improved mood. We were very honoured to see this work recognised and look forward to adding further evidence of effective interventions within this often-overlooked population.  

And on this positive and hopeful note, it is time to wish everyone a very happy and productive 2025! 

Sara, Daniel, and Rudi 

Dr Sara da Silva Ramos is Senior Research Fellow, Daniel Earnshaw is Assistant Psychologist (Research), and Dr Rudi Coetzer is Clinical Director at Brainkind.