Touchstone Neurorecovery Center, a branch of Nexus Health Systems, is introducing a new concept to Conroe.

Conroe Courier - December 16, 2006

By Tiffany Williams, Courier Staff

The center, which specializes in helping people who have suffered brain injuries adapt to daily life, will offer patients who are ready the opportunity to live in a home and develop a more self-sufficient lifestyle. The home is called Janus House, and is located at 285 Hereford Road.

The first residents will move into the home between Christmas and New Year's Eve, according to Ann De la Rosa, director of marketing and clinical liaison for Touchstone.
"Many brain injury survivors look like you and I," said Cindy Mostaffa, administrator for Touchstone Neurorecovery Center. "You couldn't pick them out in the store."

A brain injury can be a result of an internal injury, such as a stroke, or an external injury, like a blow to the head during an accident. Neurological damage can cause behavioral and cognitive changes that could affect the way a person functions in society, Mostaffa said.

Janus House offers a blend of clinical service in a home setting, said De la Rosa.
"It is part of our continuum care," she said. "Acute rehab is paramount, and Janus offers a stepping stone before transitioning into home."

The ranch-style home has a program director to oversee a staff of six, including a case manager and five direct-care personnel.

About 50 people with some sort of brain injury are currently helped by Touchstone, De la Rosa said. Touchstone also assists families of brain injury victims. The center has patients who only need its services for a few months and patients who will use Touchstone for the rest of their lives.

"This is an opportunity to put all the treatments they've been participating in into play," she said. "They get into a kitchen and practice cooking to regain those skills. They get into the bathroom to make sure they can get around. All the activities of daily living that are vital to our patients they can learn at Janus House. They can also learn other compensatory strategies. They might have physically handicapping issues that we need to help them learn to manage."

Some patients will already have jobs or be attending school on their quest to transition back into community living. Most will also be participating in special classes at Touchstone.

"We have a class called personal social adjustment training that teaches the social skills required to hold a job. Those kinds of classes bring them back in a community. We teach job coaching, planning and offer therapy," she said.

Janus House is located at 285 Hereford Road in Conroe. Touchstone Neurorecovery Center is located at 9297 Wahrenberger Road.

For more information, visit www.touchstoneneuro.com or www.nhsltd.com or call

(936) 788-7770.