Group Intervention for Adolescents With Chronic Acquired Brain Injury: The Future Zone

Author(s):  
Ellen M. Hickey ◽  
Jennifer N. Saunders

Introduction: Acquired brain injury (ABI) is a common cause of social cognition deficits and psychosocial challenges in adolescents. A group intervention program was designed to support teens with chronic ABI. Method: Quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted to examine participants' self-knowledge and satisfaction with the program. Results: Results revealed that participants and parents valued increased self-knowledge and an understanding of brain injuries, the focus on friendships and individual strengths, and feelings of togetherness and not being judged. Discussion: Support for strength-based, project-oriented, group intervention programs for adolescents with ABI and directions for future research are discussed.

Author(s):  
Judith M. Burnfield ◽  
Guilherme M. Cesar ◽  
Thad W. Buster

PURPOSE: Walking, fitness, and balance deficits are common following acquired brain injury (ABI). This study assessed feasibility, acceptability, and usefulness of a modified motor-assisted elliptical (ICARE) in addressing walking, fitness, and balance deficits in children with chronic ABIs. METHODS: Three children (>  5 years post-ABI) completed 24 ICARE exercise sessions (exercise time, speed, and time overriding motor-assistance gradually increased) to promote mass repetition of gait-like movements and challenge cardiorespiratory fitness. Parents’ and children’s perceptions of ICARE’s safety, comfort, workout, and usability were assessed. Cardiovascular response, gait and balance outcomes were assessed. RESULTS: No adverse events occurred. Parent’s Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores of perceived device safety (range 80–99), workout (range 99–100), and usability (range 75–100) were high, while comfort were 76–80 given commercial harness fit and arm support. Children’s VAS scores all exceeded 89. Comfortable walking velocity, 2-Minute Walk Test, fitness, and Pediatric Balance Scale scores improved post-training, with many outcomes surpassing established minimal clinically important differences. CONCLUSION: Following engagement in moderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise promoting repetitive step-like movements on a specially adapted motor-assisted elliptical, three children with chronic ABI demonstrated improvements in walking, fitness and balance. Future research in community-based environments with a larger cohort of children with ABI is needed.


Author(s):  
Carrie C. LeMay ◽  
Jill D. Stinson

Persons with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) who have engaged in problematic or illegal sexual behavior present with complex assessment and intervention needs yet remain understudied within the empirical literature. In the current exploratory analysis, important differences in adaptive and clinical functioning, adverse childhood experiences, and criminal offense history are examined in 25 persons with previous brain injury, 118 persons with intellectual disability but no known TBI, and 103 persons with no history of brain injury or intellectual disability, all of whom have engaged in problematic sexual behavior and who were residing in secure forensic inpatient care. Group differences were examined using comparisons of means and chi-squares. Results highlight important differences in education and employment experiences, diagnostic presentation, exposure to childhood maltreatment, and justice system involvement and characteristics of their sexual offense victims. Associations with prior literature and future research directions are discussed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Valerie Burke ◽  
Laura O’Rourke ◽  
Emer Duffy

BACKGROUND: Vocation is a meaningful area of rehabilitation after Acquired Brain Injury (ABI). There is a discrepancy between the number of individuals with an ABI who feel able to work and those who are employed in Ireland. Research suggests that Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) programs enhance Return to Work (RTW) outcomes after ABI, however existing literature is limited. OBJECTIVE: This study explores the experience of engaging in VR post ABI, and its impact upon work self-efficacy. METHODS: A mixed methods case study design was selected to represent the individuality of ABI presentations. Participants completed a qualitative interview at VR follow up (N = 2) and the Work Self-Efficacy Inventory at pre/post VR. RESULTS: Four overarching themes emerged including Stigma, Adjustment, Support and Readiness. RTW challenges included fatigue, accepting support, adjusting to work and stigma. RTW benefits included routine, pride in work, skills development, and empowerment. Wilcoxon signed rank indicated that work self-efficacy scores mildly improved post VR. CONCLUSIONS: This research may inform VR Programs and offers pragmatic clinical implications based on the data. Future research should consider the role that readiness plays in facilitating RTW. Limitations include sample size, a lack of longitudinal data and control group.


2020 ◽  
Vol 185 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 154-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra M Escolas ◽  
Margie Luton ◽  
Hamid Ferdosi ◽  
Bianca D Chavez ◽  
Scot D Engel

ABSTRACT Introduction In 2008, it was reported that 19.5% of service members previously deployed experienced a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Fifty-seven percent of those did not seek medical care. It was suggested that concerns with seeking care involved confidentiality and career issues. Objective: This study addressed mTBI history, medical treatment history, and stigmas associated with mTBI/concussion. Materials and Methods An anonymous questionnaire was developed. Data collection occurred throughout March 2018 in conjunction with Brain Injury Awareness Month activities. Results All 5,174 volunteers were Army; 86% male; 87% were between 18 and 34 years old; 89% had <14 years in the military; 35% had a combat deployment; and 10% reported having one or more mTBIs in their military careers. Of the Soldiers who reported a concussion, 52% sought medical care. Of those not seeking care, 64% reported they did not think the injury required care, followed by 18% fearing negative impact on their career. Twenty-eight percent who experienced an mTBI versus 11% who have not reported that there is a stigma associated with an mTBI. Conclusions Soldiers sometimes failed to report their suspected concussions and did not seek medical care. Educational efforts may increase reporting of and medical screening for potentially concussive events. Future research to determine the ramifications of unreported and untreated mTBIs/concussions is recommended.


2004 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pim Kuipers ◽  
Glenys Carlson ◽  
Sandra Bailey ◽  
Anshu Sharma

AbstractCommunity-based rehabilitation for people with acquired brain injury (ABI) is largely driven by goals set in the course of rehabilitation by clients and service providers. A preliminary study investigating the perspectives and practice of experienced rehabilitation coordinators was undertaken to explore issues that influence goal-setting in community rehabilitation settings. Detailed interviews and subsequent rounds of clarification were conducted with six experienced rehabilitation coordinators. Key themes identified through inductive analysis include cognitive influences, other client influences, service provider influences and the client-service provider relationship in the goal-setting process. Based on the findings, a preliminary descriptive schema of goal-setting in a community-based rehabilitation service for people with acquired brain injury is suggested. Factors such as training, experience, and values of the rehabilitation coordinators are also discussed in terms of their influence on goal-setting. Some strategies to assist a person with ABI to identify and work towards achieving realistic goals are identified. Suggestions for enhancing community-based rehabilitation practices with people with ABI, and scope for future research are noted. This paper constitutes a general overview of goal-setting in community-based ABI rehabilitation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Kusec ◽  
Fionnuala C. Murphy ◽  
Polly V. Peers ◽  
Cara Lawrence ◽  
Emma Cameron ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Acquired brain injury (ABI) affects approximately 79.3 million individuals annually and is linked with elevated rates of depression and low mood. Existing methods for treating depression in ABI have shown mixed efficacy. Behavioural activation (BA) is a potentially promising intervention. Its premise is that individuals with low mood avoid planning and engaging in activities due to low expectations of a positive outcome. Consequently, their exposure to positive reinforcement is reduced, exacerbating low mood. BA aims to break this cycle by encouraging activity planning and engagement. It is unknown whether cognitive demands of traditional BA may undermine efficacy in ABI. Here, we assess the feasibility and acceptability of two groups designed to increase activity engagement. In the activity planning group (traditional BA), the importance of meaningful and positive activity will be discussed and participants encouraged to plan/engage in activities in everyday life. The activity engagement group (experiential BA) instead focuses on engagement in positive experiences (crafts, games, discussion) within the group. The primary aims are to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the two groups in ABI. A secondary aim is to explore relative efficacy of the groups compared to an equivalent period of waitlist controls. Method This study outlines a parallel-arm pilot feasibility trial for individuals with low mood and ABI that compares a traditional vs experiential BA group vs waitlist controls. Adults (≥ 18 years) will be recruited from local ABI services and randomised to condition. Feasibility and acceptability will be assessed via recruitment, retention, attendance and participant feedback. Groups will be compared (pre- and post-intervention and 1 month follow-up) by assessing self-reported activity engagement. Secondary outcomes include self-report measures of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic distress related to the ABI, motivation, participation and sense of control over one’s life. Ethics and dissemination The trial has been approved by the Health Research Authority of the NHS in the UK (East of England—Cambridge Central, REF 18/EE/0305). Results will inform future research on interventions for mood in ABI and be disseminated broadly via peer-reviewed journals, conference presentations and social media. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03874650 pre-results. Protocol version 2.1, March 5, 2019


Author(s):  
Sho Ooi ◽  
◽  
Akihito Mihara ◽  
Mutsuo Sano ◽  
Hajime Tabuchi ◽  
...  

In this study, we report the development of a virtual reality (VR) system that evaluates executive function based on cleaning behaviors in real-time. It is known that patients with acquired brain injuries present adverse symptoms such as attention, memory, and functional disorders, as well as aphasia. Current methods to evaluate acquired brain injuries include tests such as the behavioral assessment of the dysexecutive syndrome (BADS) and digital clinical assessment for attention (D-CAT) tests; however, these tests require special/specific toolkits, and the methods are rigorous when applied for real-time dynamic evaluation. Moreover, patients are often burdened by the need to undergo paper tests as required by the evaluation methods. In this context, we propose and verify the efficacy of a method that offers real-time dynamic evaluation of acquired brain injury based on daily-living activities such as cooking, cleaning, and shopping. In this study, we focus on executive function relating to acquired brain injury, and we propose a real-time dynamic evaluation method for executive functioning using VR, which enables the automatic evaluation of subjects’ table-cleaning behavior. Our results indicate that our system can automatically assess subjects’ table cleaning behavior based on BADS test, while affording a cleaning behavior maximum average accuracy of 75.5%.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Daphin Nazareth Fernandez

Traumatic brain injuries following road traffic accidents, stroke, brain tumour, and its treatment constitute a large proportion of children with acquired brain injury (ABI). There are at least 35,000 children being admitted due to traumatic acquired brain injury (ABI) annually in the UK (1).


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yonatan Eyal

<p>The article discusses the incorporation of individuals’ assessments regarding the effect of intervention program on their own outcomes as a source of information in commonly used program evaluation methods. The incorporation of Program Self-Assessment Variables<i> </i>(<i>PSAV</i>) into the evaluation process enables the researcher to utilize the information contained in <i>PSAV</i> while utilizing other available sources of information (e.g. administrative data) as well. The analysis is based on the assumption that individuals possess valuable and unique information which they employ before self-selection into a program. The theory of planned behavior is used as a framework for examining different aspects of integrating <i>PSAV</i> in program evaluation. The article elaborates on the integration of <i>PSAV</i> into the matching method, and on the possible advantages of that approach. In addition, the article discusses different aspects of the process of eliciting self-assessments from individuals. Finally, the article outlines possible directions for future research. </p> <p> </p>


2021 ◽  
pp. 000841742110429
Author(s):  
Camille Dubé ◽  
Yu Jin ◽  
Brienne G. Powers ◽  
Ginny Li ◽  
Amélie Labelle ◽  
...  

Background. Unrecognized visual deficits (VDs) following an acquired brain injury (ABI) may impact clients’ rehabilitation. Little is known about evaluation tools used in vision rehabilitation. Purpose. To systematically explore the literature describing evaluation tools used for VD on adults with ABI. Method. Using a scoping review methodology, we searched in MEDLINE(Ovid), Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and the grey literature from inception to 2020. Quantitative and thematic analyses were performed. Findings. Of the 83 studies reporting on 86 evaluation tools, 47% used multiple tools to assess VD. Tools were mostly used by occupational therapists and psychologists to evaluate intermediate, intermediate to high, and high-level visual skills. Clinicians tend to select specific tools that focus on different levels of the hierarchy of visual skills. Implications. Future research should investigate the optimal timeframe for assessment of VD and the psychometric properties of tools to ensure comprehensive VD evaluation.


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