Welcome to our first newsletter for 2019 and my last as President of this wonderful society. To get our brains buzzing I thought it would be fun to start with a quirky quiz. But before we embark on that quirky quiz, here’s a wee dose of useless knowledge on the origin of the word ‘quiz’.

• Fanny Burney (the English satirical novelist) appears to be the first to have used the word ‘quiz’. She used it to describe ‘an odd or eccentric person’ in her diary entry for 24 June 1782. Unfortunately, I don’t know who she was talking about, do you?
• In 1790, children playing with a yo-yo-like toy were playing with a ‘quiz’.
• Use of ‘quiz’ meaning to question or interrogate emerged in the 1850s and gave rise to today’s use of the term to describe entertainment based on a test of a person’s knowledge.

So with this questionably interesting background knowledge, we are now here at the 2019 ASSBI Quiz, the ultimate test of the ASSBI member’s contemporary knowledge.

Question 1: Which country has the highest animal to human ratio in the world?

Question 2: What is the southernmost capital city in the world?

Question 3: What country was the first to give women the right to vote?

Question 4: What city was the world’s first to build a fully fenced urban ecosanctuary?

Question 5: What country is the first in the world to see a new day?

Question 6: What city will hold the best conference in the world in May 2019?

Question 7: Have you registered to be at the best conference in the world in May 2019, in the southernmost capital city in the world and the first to build an ecosanctuary, in the first country to give women the vote and the first to welcome a new day?

Having masterfully navigated your way through my quizzical method to remind you to register for our inaugural ASSBI and NZRA Trans-Tasman Conference in Wellington, New Zealand, I hope your answer to question 7 is Yes I wouldn’t miss it for the world! or No but I will be registering before the earlybird deadline on 31 March because I wouldn’t miss it for the world! It will be so lovely to see you there!

As we accelerate through the year and the decade, I am struck by the many challenges faced by the people I work with who are living with the consequences of severe brain impairment, many of whom are negotiating the changing service sector defined by the National Disability Insurance Scheme. In this challenging context, our conference theme certainly strikes a powerful chord of relevance. The conference theme centres on the World Health Organization's Rehabilitation 2030 strategy: A Call for Action. This theme highlights many issues including raising awareness about rehabilitation, making rehabilitation accessible and affordable, meeting unmet needs, reducing health inequalities, and providing effective, responsive services. It reflects the importance of working collaboratively, proactively and creatively and making a difference across practice, service and political spheres. ASSBI continues to support us in facing these issues through many of our endeavours from professional development through research dissemination to resource production. So don’t forget to keep an eye on our website to stay up to date with ongoing developments in all of these areas through the year.

In closing, I hope the year has started and continues to progress well for you all.

Warmest wishes,
Jacinta Douglas, President

The conference programme is now online and REGISTRATION is open. CLICK here for more information

Please meet Clementine Ming De (明德) Hobday. She was born on 6th December at 3.15am weighing 3.15kg and 53cm in length. Some of us are more sleep deprived than others at the moment but we are all doing well!

Click here for a photo of our newest Student

As another impressive year of ASSBI activities draws to a close, I find myself thinking about learned societies and associations like ASSBI. I know, I can hear you all thinking: “Get a life Jacinta!” but wait I do have a reason for this musing. I know in our time poor 21^st century existence, we have to be canny about what we do and don’t choose to be involved in and learned societies are one of those things. So how do you decide about being involved?  Of course you go to the literature (yes there is an evidence base) and it identifies the reasons/benefits for being involved, so you can weigh up the organisation/s you’re thinking about.  And when we do that, ASSBI and our past and previous years’ activities clearly tick the box for 10 of the most highly sort after benefits of professional organisations (Goolsby & DuBois, 2017).

Benefits of Society Membership

• Continuing education
• Electronic newsletter
• Society journal
• National conferences
• Student membership
• Networking opportunities
• Practice resources
• Members-only resources
• Awards and Prizes
• Fellows programme
  

Our professional development programme offers members across disciplines numerous opportunities to participate in ongoing education and even to do so at your leisure with workshops available to download as video files. Not only do we have our electronic newsletter but also a website packed with easy to access benefits including our journal Brain Impairment, now in its 19^th continuous year of publishing high quality papers, and our ASSBI resources to support effective practice. We have run 41 national conferences and this year we Connected and Collaborated in Adelaide thanks to the brilliant conference team led by Liz Williams. Next year we look forward to the 42^nd Annual Brain Impairment conference held in collaboration with the New Zealand Rehabilitation Association (NZRA) as the inaugural ASSBI NZRA Trans Tasman Conference. William Levack with his outstanding team have put an exceptional Call to Action programme together to entice us all to participate, network and socialise in Wellington.

Student membership with substantially reduced dues and conference fees, the opportunity to contribute as student ambassadors and team leaders, and the array of student prizes we offer make ASSBI a particularly student friendly option for students across health professions. Our awards and prizes extend well beyond students to clinical practitioners (Early Career Clinical Innovation Award) and active researchers (annual Douglas and Tate journal prize for the best research paper). We maintain strong connections with international bodies reflecting similar missions to our own including the NZRA, the International Neuropsychological Society (INS) and the Neuropsychological Rehabilitation Special Interest group of the World Federation of NeuroRehabilitation (WFNR). So in short ASSBI is a great place to feel at home and reap the benefits that have been tailored just for you!

The success and warmth within our society rests with numerous people and special 2018 thanks go to many of you. These include the amazing executive and committee members; our corporate partners Shine Lawyers who continue to give us such valuable support, the 2018 and 2019 conference committees; the outgoing student coordinator Ann Huang, her incoming counterpart Jonathan Reyes, and the student team leaders and ambassadors; all the contributors to our rich and varied workshop and webinar programme for 2018; and then of course there’s Margaret, our CEO without whom the ASSBI years would have long ago drawn to a shuddering halt!

Warmest ASSBI wishes for the holiday season and a new year full of pleasant surprises all round!

Best wishes to you all,
Jacinta Douglas, President

Most people have been informed about their abstract submission and I'm just waiting for a few replies then the programme will be online and registration will open. I'll email you an invitation to register as soon as I can.

Margaret (CEO and PCO)

ARTICLE (epub 2018; doi:10.1080/09602011.2018.1488746) – Neuropsychological Rehabilitation

Tate RL, Wakim D, Sigmundsdottir L, Longley W.

Evaluating an intervention to increase meaningful activity after severe traumatic brain injury:  a single-case experimental design with direct inter-subject and systematic replication. 

What the study is about

Many people with severe degrees of traumatic brain injury (sTBI) have limited participation: less than 50% return to work and around 80% show reduction in their leisure activity.  Our systematic review (Tate, Wakim & Genders, 2014) also showed that very few programmes are available to address non-vocational activity and occupation for people with sTBI who cannot return to work.  This study aimed to develop such a programme (which we called the Programme for Engagement, Occupation, and Activity, PEPA), and evaluate its efficacy.   The PEPA is a goal-directed intervention which comprises three stages: (i) in the initial set-up stage people with sTBI and clinicians work collaboratively to develop three goals in each of the domains of leisure, lifestyle and social; (ii) the next stage comprises 15 weekly, face-to-face, 1-hour sessions and between session homework; (iii) the final forward-planning stage commences in sessions 14 and 15, together with two booster sessions following programme completion. 

What we did
We conducted a series of single-case experiments, using a multiple-baseline design across behaviours in seven participants.  In this design, data on the primary outcome variables (in this case, the three target behaviours in the areas of leisure, lifestyle and social) were collected frequently, both during the 5-week pre-programme baseline and throughout the 15-week programme.  In this way, the participant serves as his or her own control.  The participants all had sTBI, and a range of cognitive and behavioural impairments, including clinically significant levels of apathy (lack of interest, enthusiasm for everyday activities).  None of the participants was working, but all lived in the community. Four participants were functionally independent, but the remaining three had substantial support needs which were provided by family.

What we found
Data were evaluated using structured visual analysis, supplemented with statistical analysis.  The PEPA was successful for six of the seven participants.  It was particularly effective for participants meeting their goals in the lifestyle and leisure areas.  Results from this study show that the PEPA is an effective intervention for increasing goal-directed activity levels in people with apathy after sTBI.

Acknowledgements
The study was funded by the Lifetime Care and Support Authority of New South Wales, Australia, and the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Psychosocial Recovery after TBI.  We acknowledge the advice provided by Dr Michael Perdices on data analysis, and the contributions of Ulrike Rosenkoetter, Janet Doubleday, Dr Amanda Lane-Brown, and Michelle Genders in the conduct of the study.

ASSBI and Corporate Partners Shine Lawyers recently partnered to host a series of workshops on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) with a focus on eligibility, funding and appeals.

       The NDIS commenced its roll out in July 2016 to improve the wellbeing of those living with disability. With its introduction into different states, region by region over a period of time, and varying approaches to eligibility and funding, the scheme has raised many questions. The workshops were designed to equip ASSBI members and other health providers with a better understanding of the NDIS, explaining the levels of support available for clients and patients, and providing an opportunity for participants to raise questions.

       Nickelle Morris, Special Counsel from Shine Lawyers (who spoke in Brisbane) shared her views:

“We received great feedback from the day including the information shared on case studies which provided insight on what is and is not acceptable by the Scheme and also the tips and tricks shared by Brooke Kooymans from a practical perspective.  Many attendees spoke about the delays with NDIS and the difficulties they’ve experienced dealing with the system. Through educating providers on the processes and procedures, we want to be able to reduce some of this frustration. Several participants commented that they walked away with some crucial learnings, which is really promising to hear.” 

Libby Callaway, is a registered occupational therapist, and director of Neuroskills Pty Ltd. At Monash, (who spoke in Melbourne) also shared her views:

It was fantastic to collaborate with Shine Lawyers and ASSBI to deliver an interdisciplinary workshop on the NDIS. As a clinician working with NDIS participants who is also a researcher leading investigations on NDIS policy and implementation, I was pleased to contribute my knowledge to assist workshop attendees to translate NDIS policy into practice. It was also great to be able to provide practical resources for clinicians to use when working with NDIS participants with acquired brain injury.

Each workshop followed a two-prong approach, with legal experts from Shine talking through the applicable legislation supported by a sample of case law from reviews and appeals. This practical approach resonated with attendees as it put the aspects of the legislation into context. The second segment then provided a detailed practical explanation of the processes involved for health providers who are working with NDIS participants; this included a range of practical tips and tricks.

       The information provided at each event the country has been very well received by those in attendance. On behalf of Shine Lawyers and ASSBI, we’d like to express our sincere thanks to all of our presenters who generously gave up their time to deliver the workshops.  

       If you are interested in knowing more about the information discussed during the workshops please do not hesitate to reach out to Shine Lawyers.

NOTE from ASSBI: If you are interested in buying an MP4 of any of the 4 Workshops email Margaret at admin@assbi.com.au

Welcome to September, so called because it was the 7^th (septum) month of the 10-month Roman calendar that then became the 9^th month of the 12-month Julian calendar when Julius Caesar added 2 more months, Jan and Feb, in 45BC. Why you ask, is Jacinta waffling on about calendars and months in the ASSBI newsletter? Well I don’t know about you but from my perspective, time now flies by so quickly that I reckon it’s about time we added another 2 months to the end of the calendar!! We could call them farbehindber and caughtupber! By the way, I think that Margaret, our CEO extraordinaire, already has 2 months hidden away somewhere because she ensures ASSBI has so much to offer our membership in any given year.

Back in July, the real 7^th month of the year, ASSBI members were out en masse showcasing ground-breaking research at the Neuropsychological Rehabilitation Special Interest Group (NR-SIG) meeting of the World Federation of Neurorehabilitation (WFNR) and the International Neuropsychological Society (INS) meeting in Prague. It never ceases to amaze me how impressively our doctoral candidates, and early, mid and established career researchers perform on the world stage – congratulations to all those who yet again demonstrated excellence in their fields.

At the same time in Prague, ASSBI took the opportunity of entering into a formal agreement with INS by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two organisations. During the closing ceremony of the Prague meeting, myself as president of ASSBI and Keith Yeates as president of INS signed an MOU reflecting our societies’ mutual commitment to working together on matters of common concern and in the public interest. Indeed the Constitution of ASSBI and the Bylaws of INS share mutual objectives which include both organizations’ emphasis on multidisciplinary membership and the importance of their scientific, clinical, and educational missions and the MOU provides us with a framework to support ongoing cooperation.

Thinking about our organisational partnerships, brings me to an important reminder: our 2019, 42^nd Annual Brain Impairment conference will be held in Wellington in collaboration with the New Zealand Rehabilitation Association (NZRA) Biannual conference as the inaugural ASSBI NZRA Trans Tasman Conference AND the call for abstracts is now open. Our theme is A Call for Action, so take action now and submit you abstract HERE

While we don’t have those extra 2 months I fantasised about at the beginning of my September President’s words, we do have plenty of upcoming activities and opportunities to keep members super active including 4 upcoming workshops on the NDIS (Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney), the 2^nd (Sept) 2018 issue of Brain Impairment, resources to download or purchase and abstracts to submit.

Best wishes to you all,
Jacinta Douglas, President

The Call for Abstracts for #assbinzra2019 is now open, there are changes to how you submit so PLEASE go to the CONFERENCE SITE and read the Call for Abstracts thoroughly prior to submitting. We will be closing submissions on 19th October so don't delay submit today!

Every day we grieve the loss of our loved one, yet they survived the crash

With the permission of her inspirational client, Shine Lawyers’ Solicitor Laura Hadfield has written this eye-opening article discussing what life can look like for families when a loved one has suffered a life-altering event. Bundaberg woman Rhiannon was kind enough to give an insight into her tragic accident, and the tough journey she has been on ever since. With the help of Shine Lawyers she is making progress, but it’s a path she never imagined her life would take. Click here to read Laura’s story.