Pre-Congress Sessions

Date: Wednesday, March 19, 2024

First Session: 8:15am-12:15pm
Second Session: 1:30-5:30pm

Our Pre-Congress Day will feature two blocks of four concurrent educational sessions (8 total). Please note that the Pre-Congress Day is an additional cost of $195 USD.

If you are interested in attending, please be sure to add it to your registration when registering for the Congress. 

First Concurrent Sessions: 8:15am-12:15pm

How to do Cognitive Rehabilitation – A Practical Workshop

To teach therapists how to Design, Develop & Implement a comprehensive cognitive rehabilitation programme. The course focuses on practical activities that can be used in the rehabilitation of attention, visual processing, information processing, memory and executive functions.

Paths to Possibility: Advancing Psychosocial and Peer Support Interventions in Pediatric Brain Injury

Acquired brain injuries (ABI) are common amongst children and adolescents. Using a biopsychosocial perspective, these injuries can have significant impact on the lives of young people and their families, including on their cognitive and physical abilities, mood and relationships, as well as the ability to engage in activities of meaning and importance such as school, work, physical activity and social interactions. One approach to intervention is to empower those impacted by ABI to support each other, leading to improved social connection, the provision of relevant social support and the promotion of psychosocial wellbeing. This symposium highlights research and clinical programming specific to peer support and psychosocial interventions designed to help children and youth with ABI across the spectrum of injury severity, along with their families. .

DoC Care Management: What’s New

This pre-congress session will cover the following: Innovative neuroimaging in DoC such as fNIRS, the potential role of neuromodulatory techniques in persons with DoC, motor dysfunctions in DoC, music therapy, and Acute vs. Chronic management of DoC.

The Science Behind mTBI

This preconference workshop will include a series of presentations that investigate current literature and novel research on the pathophysiology of mTBI and concussion. Presentations will include clinical, translational, and imaging research perspectives. The workshop will also include discussions on the autonomic nervous system, fluid biomarkers, cerebral blood flow, and more.

Second Concurrent Sessions: 1:30-5:30pm

An International Exchange of Knowledge and Resources for Brain Injury and Intimate Partner Violence

In this session, Dr. Valera will set the stage with an overview of the prevalence and correlates of brain injuries (BIs) from intimate partner violence (IPV) as well as newer data pertaining to women’s perception of as well as barriers to seeking help for IPV-related brain injuries. The next presentations will provide snapshots of research being done internationally to understand and address IPV-related BIs in different contexts and countries.

Partnership Research: A Catalyst for Individuals with Acquired Brain Injury
(French session: La recherche partenariale: Un catalyseur pour les personnes avec un trouble neurologique acquis)

This pre-congress half-day session will focus on partnership research in brain injury. The session will be conducted in French, with simultaneous translation, to foster participation from the local community. It will feature three presentations on partnerships between research and clinical settings, including the co-development of a mobile app for early rehabilitation of individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI), the efficacy of a psychotherapy and support group for mild TBI, and the implementation and use of the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory 4 in TBI rehabilitation.

Translation will be available.

Implementing Family Educational Tools and Resource Facilitation into Brain Injury Clinical Practice for Severe Brain Injury: An Interactive Workshop for Clinicians, Families, Caregivers and Stakeholders

This pre-congress course will discuss the importance of family education experiencing a loved-one with moderate to severe brain injury. Current gaps in education and resources for families will be identified. Consumers with lived experience of moderate to severe brain injury will share their perspectives on available resources as well as resource disparities they encountered throughout the continuum of care. Presenters will highlight a recently developed website-based content specifically for families of severe brain injury and the systematic steps required to develop comprehensive, consumer-based content. This pre-conference will emphasize a call to action to promote collaboration between clinical partners to continue to develop future family educational content for consumers.

Aphasia, Discourse and TBI

The pre-congress workshop will comprise a series of brief presentations which address specific challenges facing clinicians and researchers working with complex populations including those with severe aphasia, cognitive communication disorders, and will encompass topics such as return to work and self identity following the injury. Finally, the session will conclude with a discussion of self identity and self image, and how individuals with acquired brain injury shape their online image post-injury.