Quality of Life, Stress Perception, and Quality of Social Networks in Persons Living with Brain Injury: An Exploration of the Effectiveness of a Community-Based Program

Exploring Participant Perceptions of a Community-Based Program for People With Brain Injury

“…The participants in this study were all regular attenders who expressed appreciation that the center afforded them opportunities and support that they believed is often lacking in other communities. The five themes that emerged were strikingly similar to the prior study (White et al, 2018) and reinforced the importance of meaningful participation in reframing one's identity after a brain injury. Participation in meaningful activity or occupations can be a catalyst for changing one's perspective of the meaning of their life as well as provide fulfillment in the psychological needs of being, becoming, and belonging that contribute to overall well-being and quality of life perception (Eakman, 2014;Wilcock, 2006).…”

“…To accomplish these aims, individuals living with chronic brain injury were interviewed about their experiences as members of an established community-based program that has offered services for 20 years and asked to describe elements in programming that they believed supported them. The current study replicated a previous one, with a new random sample and strengthened study methods through audio-recordings, verbatim transcription, and questions about program features, for the purposes of validating previous findings as well as identifying effective program details (White et al, 2018).…”