The lived experience of occupational adaptation following acquired brain injury for people living in a rural area

Abstract

After initially coming to terms with having a brain injury and accepting the new person the self had become, adaptation through engaging in occupation was experienced by the participants. An understanding of strategies that participants used in the adaptation process is of use to occupational therapists in order to design meaningful occupational interventions.

Experience of recovery and outcome following traumatic brain injury: a metasynthesis of qualitative research

“…Such factors included retraining skills [43]; learning about one's deficits and abilities [38,41,43,44]; acceptance of disability [22,23,27,38,43]; revision of personal narrative [22,26,27,29]; redefining what constituted 'success' [25,26,40]. Thus, reconstruction of self-identity involved both improving one's capacity (through effortful activity) and changing the way one thought about oneself.…”

“…Health professionals could provide information about the nature of injury and impairments and opportunities for rehabilitation, but family, friends and community members were the ones who created the environment in which people with TBI lived and worked [29,32,43,44]. Study participants appreciated that other people had to adjust their own lives to accommodate the effects of their TBI: 'Now my wife is married to another man [myself with a TBI] these days.…”

“…At its most basic, this reflected a loss of connection with the person one had been prior to injury, with participants stating that 'it [ Chamberlain [34] Crisp [22,23] Gutman and Napier-Klemic [36] Hallberg et al [37] Howes et al [38] Jumisko et al [39] Karlovits and McColl [33] Lawson et al [27] Levack et al [40] Morris et al [31] Muenchberger et al [32] Nochi [24][25][26] O'Callaghan et al [41] Oppermann [42] Padilla [29] Parsons & Stanley [43] Paterson & Stewart [30] Petrella et al [44] Reichard et al [45] Roscigno et al [28] Shotton et al [46] Strandberg [47] 1. Congruity between philosophical perspective and research methodology?…”

Response actions to difficulties in using everyday technology after acquired brain injury

“…As most studies have been carried out in contrived situations, clients' use of response actions in real-life situations is not known in detail. Studies of daily activities after ABI (25)(26)(27)(28) have focused on the response actions that are used on a more general level, e.g., adopting new ways of thinking, doing tasks differently or using the environment rather than specific situational actions. Very little is, however, known about actions undertaken in response to the difficulties using ET, and which actions that support continued performance.…”

Outcomes of participation objective, participation subjective (POPS) measure following traumatic brain injury

“…The majority of participants had their injury more than 5 years prior to the study. Participants may well have made or were making adjustments to accommodate the impact of the injury, thus altering their expectations of participation [12,33]. As participants learn to live with their condition and begin to understand their abilities, they adjust their internal standards and values [34,35].…”