Impact of childhood brain injury on work and family finances

Abstract

Parents of children who suffer brain injuries are often surprised by the extent to which work and family finances are disrupted. In this paper, work and financial problems are described, predictors are identified, and ways to minimize problems are discussed. Eighty-two children treated at two Massachusetts trauma centres were given an extensive battery of medical, functional, and psychosocial tests during hospitalization. At 1 and 6 months post-discharge they were retested and their parents were surveyed about work and financial difficulties. Trouble maintaining regular work schedules and injury-related financial problems were common. At highest risk for work and financial problems were families of children with severe injuries who had four to nine impairments, along with children hospitalized > 2 weeks who were not discharged to home. Surprisingly, families with HMO coverage reported significantly fewer financial problems, and this relationship was not due to differences in socioeconomic status or injury severity. Health-care providers need to pay more attention to the potential impact of injury on work and family finances. Providers can help at-risk families muster child-care services, deal effectively with employers and insurance companies, and plan for the future.

Family environment influences emotion recognition following paediatric traumatic brain injury

“…This finding remained significant even after controlling for estimated SES and is consistent with previous research demonstrating that income and financial considerations are significant predictors of caregiver burden following brain injury. The fact that this relationship was not depleted by accounting for SES in the analysis highlights the importance of adequate financial resources beyond other variables typically associated with SES in facilitating positive outcome after brain injury [31, 61]. However, the variable of financial resources may, in this case, merely be a proxy for other environmental influences (e.g.…”

“…Osberg et al [61] argue that the increases in financial strain after paediatric TBI affect the family system in a negative manner by exacerbating overall family stress, eventually leading to greater family disruption. Work by Montgomery et al [62] indicated that financial difficulties are experienced by at least 30% of families even up to 3 years post-injury and research with adults suggests that decreased family financial resources have a direct and deleterious impact on outcome as well as having an indirect/moderating effect on caregiver burden [63].…”