A Qualitative Synthesis of Families’ and Students’ Hospital-to-School Transition Experiences Following Acquired Brain Injury

Abstract

Acquired brain injury (ABI) is one of the greatest causes of death and disability among children in Canada. Following ABI, children are required to transition back to school and adapt to the physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, and emotional demands of the school environment. We conducted a qualitative systematic review of students’ and parents’ experiences of the transition back to school following ABI. We identified 20 articles that met our inclusion criteria. Six themes emerged: (a) lack of ABI-specific education for families and professionals, (b) communication-related factors as a facilitator and/or barrier to transition, (c) emotional focus, (d) peer relationships, (e) supports, and (f) ABI sequelae in the classroom. Students’ and families’ personal motivations and abilities and the support they receive in their environment affect their experiences of transitioning back to school and the disrupted occupations they face.

Thinking Otherwise: Bringing Young People into Pediatric Concussion Clinical and Research Practice

“…Introduction to the study Guided by the methodological and philosophical writings of Michel Foucault (1926-1984 and the key concepts of discourse, power/knowledge and the subject (Foucault, 1971(Foucault, , 1980(Foucault, , 1982a(Foucault, , 1982b, we used a critical arts-based research design (Guillemin, 2004a(Guillemin, , 2004bRose, 2016) to explore how young people responded to pervasive discourses about concussion and young people (Mah, 2021). Arts-based research methods have the potential to generate abstract, tacit and emotional forms of knowledge that can be difficult to generate when words-based methods, such as qualitative interviews or focus groups, are used in isolation (Boylan et al, 2009;Hartman et al, 2015;Literat, 2013;Mah et al, 2020;Tay-Lim & Lim, 2013). When used in conjunction with words-based methods, past studies in health (see e.g., Eldén, 2013;Guillemin, 2004aGuillemin, , 2004b have demonstrated the potential of drawing as an arts-based method to explore the multiplicity and complexity of the human experience of health and illness.…”

The Factors Important in Inclusive Education of the Pupil with Traumatic Brain Injury Identified on the Basis of the Lived Experience of His Mother

“…TBI has also a serious impact on the family [8] and parental support. A cooperative relationship, special services, and a professional attitude from teachers seem to be of the highest importance [9]. If parents meet multiple barriers in the educational environment, they may become frustrated, inpatient, or angry.…”

“…However, the primary cause of these feelings is the lack of understanding and fear about their child and about the future [10]. Authors of qualitative systematic reviews [8][9][10] often describe education as an important area of life influenced by TBI and suggest that an understanding of the parental experience by the school staff helps improve the educational process for a pupil with TBI.…”

Return to school after acquired brain injury in the UK – the educators' perspectives

“…When a child is physically well enough to leave hospital and return to school, they are likely still to be in an active phase of neuro-rehabilitation and gradually regaining functional skills (Hartman, Tibbles, et al, 2015), so the school environment becomes a de facto rehabilitation centre. Therefore, educators play a critical role in the child's continuing recovery and cognitive rehabilitation (Shaw and McCabe, 2008) and require the skills, information and resources to fulfil this role from the outset (Hartman, Tibbles, et al, 2015).…”

“…The return‐to‐school may involve many people: the child, parents and other caregivers, educators, hospital and community‐based clinicians and education support professionals external to the school. A growing evidence base, predominantly from the United States, Australia and Canada, calls for greater communication and collaboration between everyone involved, including the child and their parents, and a reduction in the practical barriers which impede collaboration between clinicians and educators, for example being released from normal duties to meet (Andersson et al, 2016; Hartman, Duncanson, et al, 2015; Hartman, Tibbles, et al, 2015). Ylvisaker et al, (2001) recommended a consultancy model in which ABI specialists collaborate with educators to plan an individual combination of strategies and interventions which are appropriate to the child's unique ABI and to make adjustments through medical recovery.…”