Rehabilitation for Traumatic Brain Injury, the final product of a 2003 conference that assembled national experts on traumatic brain injury (TBI) rehabilitation, was written to “bring into one volume a concise and authoritative account of what is currently known in the field of TBI rehabilitation.” It is intended for TBI clinicians and researchers including neuropsychologists, physiatrists, neurologists, neurosurgeons, psychiatrists, and rehabilitation therapists. The volume is impressive for the number of chapter authors who are nationally recognized experts on various aspects of TBI rehabilitation (e.g., Drs. Prigatano, Malec, Corrigan, Levin, Boake, Diller, Sohlberg, and Cicerone), as well as the broad and inclusive range of topics covered.

The book is divided into 5 sections covering a broad range of rehabilitation domains. The first section includes chapters on the history of TBI rehabilitation and its effectiveness. This section sets the stage for the following chapters by reviewing the existing literature on the efficacy of TBI rehabilitation in general, critiquing it, and presenting an agenda for future research. The second section, “Rehabilitation of Specific Cognitive Impairments,” reviews the literature on the efficacy of interventions targeted towards awareness, memory, executive function, social communication, and emotional and motivation disorders, and offers suggestions for future research in these areas. These chapters vary in their length and thoroughness, with some chapters providing extensive review of existing literature and specific recommendations for future research, whereas others provide cursory reviews and only general recommendations for future research. The chapters in the third section, “Factors Affecting Outcome,” are very well written, a strength of the book, and stress the importance and necessity of addressing substance abuse disorders, family and caregiver issues, and vocational rehabilitation programs when providing services to persons with TBI. Section four, “Rehabilitation with Specific Populations,” includes chapters on children and older adults with TBI, as well as multicultural perspectives in TBI rehabilitation. These chapters also vary in length and presentation but provide good summaries of state-of-the-art research with these populations. The last section, “Medical Topics,” includes chapters on pharmacologic management of spastic hypertonia, minimally conscious patients, and neuroimaging in rehabilitation. Based on their narrow focus, these chapters will likely be of interest primarily to researchers specializing in these areas.

Rehabilitation for Traumatic Brain Injury presents a solid review of TBI interventions and issues that will be of primary interest to TBI researchers, given the book's focus on existing research on TBI interventions and suggestions for future research. In addition to being a good resource for TBI researchers, this book will also be an excellent text for rehabilitation students to learn about state-of-the-art TBI research, and the field's future directions. The book's primary strength is its comprehensive review of the many areas that need further investigation in TBI rehabilitation (e.g., cognitive interventions, medical interventions) and inclusion of chapters on the impact of nonmedical factors on TBI outcomes (e.g., specific populations/issues, etc.). Despite its claim, this book provides little practical information for clinicians. Rehabilitation for Traumatic Brain Injury will be a good complement to standard rehabilitation texts such as Rosenthal et al.'s Rehabilitation of the Adult and Child with Traumatic Brain Injury, Sohlberg and Mateer's Cognitive Rehabilitation, Prigatano's Principles of Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, and Frank and Elliott's Handbook of Rehabilitation Psychology.