Multicultural Neurorehabilitation: Clinical Principals for Rehabilitation Professionals

Designing rehabilitation programs for patients who have suffered brain injury or disease is one of the core functions of clinical neuropsychologists. Ironically, the more that neuropsychologists have learned about the functional anatomy of the brain, the more they have realised how important the variable of culture is, not only in the expression of deficits, but in implementation of treatment programs. After all, tumours, strokes, and traumatic brain injuries do not just affect the brain, they affect a person who is a member of a particular family that has a particular ethno-cultural background. The interpersonal context of the brain disorder affects not only how injury or trauma is expressed, but how the patient and family deals with medical professionals and how rehabilitation programs must be tailored to ensure effectiveness. Uomoto and Wong are two of the top clinical neuropsychologists interested in issues of cross-cultural assessment and intervention and this book, the first of its kind, will serve as a general guidebook on the key issues surrounding multicultural rehabilitation for a wide range of health care professionals.