Recovering from mild brain injury

Susanne Meares’ progress, from nurse to neuropsychologist researching mild traumatic brain injury, shows how passion can fuel a career.

Meares sees and tests accident victims first at their bedsides, then three months later as outpatients, and again after 12 months. “We’re looking at how people recover,” she says.

Based at Westmead Hospital, the Macquarie University Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic provides real-life experience for students entering neuropsychology. In the four years the Clinic has been running, 43 students have completed placements and some 500 patients have been assessed. 

Patients come in after car accidents, assault, falls or sporting injuries. Most are young men. “We estimate the severity of head injuries. The measure is loss of memory of events surrounding the accident up to 24 hours after it’s happened. After that, if amnesia and other symptoms continue, we expect effects to be more severe,” she explains.

Most problems are resolved in the first three months, but around one-third of people continue to report headaches, forgetfulness, depression and anxiety.

Meares is involved with a research project to see whether early assessment of accident victims with mild head injury can identify those at risk and improve management to reduce long-term disability. Her team has collected data from 78 patients, and are aiming for 200 in total.

“It’s rewarding when you can write a report which explores a person’s deficits in a way that helps the rehabilitation team work with them to compensate, and helps the patient understand what’s happening to them as they’re starting to recover. After 12 months, it’s good to see how patients have progressed in terms of minor brain injury, when they’ve also suffered terrible physical injuries,” she says.

She is now looking at how well the project’s tests have worked. She pays tribute to the trauma and rehabilitation doctors at Westmead with whom she’s worked, and also to the nurses.

“If they support your study, they make allowances for you so you can get your data before they whizz a patient off somewhere,” she says.

Meares is also aware of the responsibility of the researcher in such a situation. “You’re giving people information about their future, and about the extent of any possible brain damage and possible cognitive and behavioural problems.”

All the patients in the study are over 18 and want to participate in something that could help them.

Final data will not be fully collated until early 2007, but Meares expects to publish articles about the project before then.

“We hope our results will highlight the areas we should target. If it’s psychological problems, patients should have a quick intervention. If it’s cognitive, we know they need more follow-up. After this research, we can look at a treatment intervention program,” she says.

After over 15 years of study, through Honours, Masters and professional accreditation with the College of Clinical Neuropsychologists, Meares still exudes enthusiasm for her chosen field.

“The older you get, the more focused you are,” she says. “Each person brings their own story to our assessments, their personal history coupled with the injury or the degenerative process and the test results. You get new insights from each case.”

For more information about placements at the Clinic, and the collaboration between Macquarie University and Westmead, contact Professor Jenny Batchelor at Jenny.Batchelor@psy.mq.edu.au, and see the Department of Psychology Website at http://www.psy.mq.edu.au

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