Rehabilitation professionals’ views on social media use in traumatic brain injury rehabilitation: gatekeepers to participation

Abstract

Purpose: Rehabilitation professionals support people with traumatic brain injury to return to meaningful participation in life and societywhich now includes the use of social media. However, the role of health professionals in supporting the use of social media by adults with traumatic brain injury is not yet known. This study aimed to investigate the experiences and views of rehabilitation professionals on the use of social media by people with traumatic brain injury during rehabilitation. Method: Two focus groups were conducted and analysed qualitatively for content themes. Results: Eleven rehabilitation professionals, including allied health, recreational therapy, and service management, took part in this study. Participants identified potential benefits to people with traumatic brain injury using social media, including reduced social isolation. However, they expressed concerns about social media risks relating to the vulnerability, exploitation, and reputation management for people with traumatic brain injury. Rehabilitation professionals viewed their role as being to protect people from these increased risks of harm, either through imposing restrictions on social media use or responding to problems after these occurred. Conclusion: A knowledge translation approach might help guide and support rehabilitation professionals in enabling adults with traumatic brain injury to safely access and experience the benefits of meaningful engagement in social media during rehabilitation.

Predicting factors of driving abilities after acquired brain injury through combined neuropsychological and Mediatester driving assessment

“…The TMT-B has been proven as a good predictor of the assessment of driving abilities in TBI (Cullen et al, 2014;Cyr et al, 2009;Fisk et al, 2002;Hargrave et al, 2012;Lundqvist et al, 2008;Novack et al, 2000), stroke (Hargrave et al, 2012;Alexandersen et al, 2009;Motta et al, 2014) and subarachnoid hemorrhage (Lundqvist et al, 2008) survivors. The groups with neurological condition described had significantly lower results on TMT-B in comparison with control groups (Brunner et al, 2019;Fisk et al, 2002;Lundqvist et al, 2008;Motta et al, 2014;Novack et al, 2000). In addition, the researchers found higher results on the TMT-B in patients after TBI who drove again and those who did not (Cullen et al, 2014;Lundqvist et al, 2008).…”

“…Novack and colleagues (2000) found that poor performance on the Trail Making Test Part B is a good predictor of the failure in driving capability assessment. Fisk et al (2002) and Brunner et al (2019) found significantly lower results on TMT in participants after TBI in comparison with the control group. Lundqvit, Alinder, and Ronnberg ( 2008) followed two groups of individuals with TBI or subarachnoid hemorrhage and their controls over a period of 10 years.…”

Training Resources Targeting Social Media Skills to Inform Rehabilitation for People Who Have an Acquired Brain Injury: Scoping Review

“…Subsequently, during rehabilitation, clinicians should consider the person's use of social media when examining communication contexts before their injury [29]. Rehabilitation clinicians have expressed willingness to support people in using social media after their brain injury [44]. However, they report uncertainty and concern regarding the potential risks people with a brain injury may encounter on social media [44].…”

“…Rehabilitation clinicians have expressed willingness to support people in using social media after their brain injury [44]. However, they report uncertainty and concern regarding the potential risks people with a brain injury may encounter on social media [44]. Standard speech pathology clinical practice and ABI rehabilitation are yet to include social media skills training, and evidence-based guidance on social media use for brain injury rehabilitation professionals is lacking [33].…”

“…For example, at the time of writing, the eSafety Commissioner has made only 4 of their extensive range of resources available on their website in an easy English format [45]. With little access to guidance or support, rehabilitation professionals use greater caution in therapy, resulting in restrictive or reactive approaches rather than proactive interventions [44].…”