A Danish National Strategy for Treatment and Rehabilitation After Acquired Brain Injury

This study describes the establishment of a Danish national strategy for treatment and rehabilitation of acquired brain injury, particularly traumatic brain injury, in 1997. The vision was to create a system of tax-financed continuous treatment, restoration of function, and outpatient rehabilitation. Recommendations and their fulfillment are described. Focus is on the establishment and function of early intensive interdisciplinary rehabilitation after severe traumatic brain injury, centralized as 2 units since the year 2000, each with half the country as uptake area, corresponding to populations of around 2.5 million. Advantages gained by this centralization are increased focus on brain injury so that everybody gets specialized rehabilitation, regardless of the prognosis, the introduction of a database for severe brain injuries with unified measures of function and outcome, and the creation of a basis for method development and interdisciplinary research. Results for the first 3 years also indicate that outcome is improved after centralization.