This interactive pre-conference course will offer a multidisciplinary approach to best practices in neurobehavioral assessment of patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC). Course faculty will include multidisciplinary experts on DoC clinical care and research (representing occupational therapy, physical therapy, neuropsychology, and neuroscience). This course will focus on optimizing behavioral assessment utilizing evidence-based standardized methods to establish diagnosis and prognosis. We will also review common confounding factors that may mask consciousness. Neurobehavioral assessments across various settings (e.g., acute/intensive care and post-acute) will be included. This course provides learners with hands-on demonstrations and will guide attendees through practice administration of some assessments. There will also be opportunities for discussion with experts. Case studies will promote active learning through presentation of varied patient neurobehavioral profiles. Attendees will be exposed to the most recent evidence related to assessment of the DoC population and evolving approaches to conceptualizing the measurement of consciousness.

Using a case example, content will guide learners in identifying common errors in DoC assessment leading to invalid diagnosis and prognosis and provide the tools necessary to mitigate those errors in clinical practice. Key concepts will include optimizing the testing environment, standardizing assessment, understanding the benefit of serial evaluations, and establishing a diagnosis and prognosis. Application of published clinical guidelines regarding assessment of persons with DoC will be reviewed.

Using a case example, content will guide learners in identifying, mitigating, and documenting confounding factors that may invalidate assessment. Presenters will address the many medical and functional confounds that can be present within the DoC population and mask consciousness across settings (acute/ICU and post-acute settings). We will discuss how confounds can impact validity and reliability of assessment and scoring. Content will include recent advances in behavioral measurement such as CRS-R Rasch analysis to detect minimal clinical change and its utility in clinical practice.

Using a case example, content will guide learners in identifying, mitigating, and documenting confounding factors that may invalidate assessment. Presenters will address the many medical and functional confounds that can be present within the DoC population and mask consciousness across settings (acute/ICU and post-acute settings). We will discuss how confounds can impact validity and reliability of assessment and scoring. Content will include recent advances in behavioral measurement such as CRS-R Rasch analysis to detect minimal clinical change and its utility in clinical practice.

Attendees will practice administration of the Coma Recovery Scale-Revise (CRS-R) in small groups rotating through multiple stations that each address crucial considerations of DoC behavioral assessment. Presenters will guide attendees through this hands-on and interactive experience. These small group breakouts will also provide learners an opportunity to network and problem-solve with their clinical peers.