Coma Patients

Families of coma patients or patients emerging from comas need a great deal of emotional and practical support. If they are persons of faith, vital spiritual support is likely to be readily available. However, physical and legal assistance may be harder to come by.

Emerging from a coma may be an excited time of gratitude and joy for patient and family. On the other hand, the combined physical and emotional problems of the patient may be so overwhelming that discouragement, even desperation, quickly sets in. All involved may even wish that the patient had died rather than recovered. And that is not an evil thought; the enormity of the burden of caring for such an incapacitated person can both rend a family and render them penniless before they find the aid they need.

Medical care, including rehabilitation, will probably be ongoing, regardless of progress. The National Institutes of Health website for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke provides contact information for a number of organizations that have a variety of information. These include: Coma Recovery Association, Brain Injury Association of America, National Rehabilitation Information Center, Brain Trauma Foundation, Family Caregiver Alliance, and National Stroke Association.

Research Studies on Neurological Conditions

Through research studies, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke looks for ways to prevent, treat and cure conditions such as coma and persistent vegetative state. However, the link on its website indicates no current studies of that particular type being conducted. Interested persons may want to pursue other avenues for possible research studies that might be accepting patients at the present time.