Barbara Wilson wins BPS Lifetime Achievement Award for 2008
Professor Barbara Wilson has accepted The British Psychological Society Lifetime Achievement Award for 2008 to be presented at the 2009 Annual conference.
For over 30 years Barbara has been dedicated to brain injury rehabilitation, in both clinical practice and clinical research, and is an accomplished academic and dedicated practitioner. She has encouraged a holistic approach that regards social and emotional factors as at least as important as cognitive deficits.
Barbara revolutionised the psychology of neuro-rehabilition and has been a prime mover in ensuring the advances in neuroscience and neuropsychology were applied to the problems that people with brain injury experience.
After qualifying as a clinical psychologist in 1977 Barbara has worked almost exclusively in brain injury rehabilitation. Her research is driven by clinical issues relevant to the lives of people who have suffered a brain injury. Her dedication is reflected in the number of awards she has received from scientific and professional bodies as well as groups representing people who have suffered a brain injury.
She is a Fellow of the Society, The Academy of Medical Sciences and The Academy of Learned Societies in Social Sciences and was awarded an OBE in 1998 for services to medical rehabilitations. We have learned most recently that she has also been awarded the International Neuropsychological Society's Lifetime Achievement Award, to be announced in February 2009.
Her focus on making a difference to the lives of people with neurological disorders and the development of meaningful interventions for people with brain injury has ensured that thousands of people with brain disorders have a better means to manage their lives more effectively.
Barbara’s work has also focused on the development of rehabilitation interventions. This is best illustrated by her work for people with memory impairment after brain injury. She is responsible for stimulating and carrying out much of the progress on the use of ‘errorless learning’ methods over the last decade. ‘Errorless learning’ is a technique for enabling the acquisition of new information in individuals with severe memory impairments.
In 2001 she published a randomised control trial of NeuroPage, a paging-based reminding system that uses radio-paging technology to send reminders of things to do. The success of this led to the development of clinical neuropage services available throughout the UK which helped thousands of patients.
As Professor Elizabeth Glisky, Head of Department of Psychology at the University of Arizona explained; ‘Errorless learning now stands in the field of brain injury research and rehabilitation as a fundamental principle of memory rehabilitation and is applied ubiquitously in clinical contexts.’
Addressing real life issue in a scientifically rigorous way is what underpins Barbara’s contribution to brain injury rehabilitation. This is clearly reflected in her work on the development of many neuropsychological tests, such as the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test.
Barbara was instrumental in developing the Oliver Zangwill Centre for Neuropsychological rehabilitation in 1996. The Centre provides an intensive holistic neuropsychology rehabilitation day programme which is recognised worldwide for its excellence.
Raising awareness of the need for treatment of psychological problems after brain injury has been a key issue for Barbara. Her skill lies in the ability to make these complex topics understandable and applicable to the everyday work of a range of healthcare professionals. Her contributions to numerous television and radio programmes on cognitive problems after brain injury has helped to educate lay audiences about the psychological consequences of acquired brain injury.
Throughout Barbara’s career she has remained open to new ideas and alternative views so that the science and practice of clinical neuropsychology could evolve. Her commitment to the practice of neuropsychology led to the establishment of the Society’s Division of Neuropsychology (DoN).
In September 2007 Barbara officially retired but still has an honorary appointment at the Medical Research Council’s Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, she continues to work as editor on the journal Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, which she established in 1991, and is a consultant to the Oliver Zangwill Centre in Ely. She also continues to be in demand as a speaker and a workshop presenter around the world. Throughout her career she has inspired and taught many thousands of psychologists as well as other professionals such as occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists and doctors in the UK and around the world.
Barbara has published 18 books, over 260 journal articles and chapters, and 10 neuropsychological tests used widely throughout the world. Her contribution to neuropsychology and neuro-rehabilition is without an easy comparison but it is also her capacity to communicate so well with academics, clinicians and survivors and their families that has enabled her to meet and surpass their needs.
As Professor Huw Williams, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology and Chair of the DoN commented; ‘Barbara transformed the area of neuro-rehabilition by inspiring professionals, survivors of injury or disease, and policy shapers with her enthusiasm, intellect, wit and perseverance. Barbara is a role model for those who aspire to make a contribution to society through psychology.’
Barbara Wilson is co-author of RBMT-3