Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-qxdb6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T05:49:05.589Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pictures and a thousand words: the experiences of significant others whose loved ones have a severe brain injury who are being discharged home

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2021

Martin Checklin  and
Delwyne Stephens
Martin Checklin*
Affiliation:
Speech Pathology Rehabilitation, Epworth HealthCare, Richmond, Victoria, Australia
Delwyne Stephens
Affiliation:
Aquired Brain Injury Unit, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
*
*Corresponding author. Email: martin.checklin@epworth.org.au
Get access

Abstract

Purpose:

To investigate the experiences of significant others when their loved one with a severe acquired brain injury (ABI) is being discharged from an ABI-specific rehabilitation unit.

Participants:

Significant others of loved ones with an ABI participated in interviews close to their loved ones being discharged from inpatient ABI rehabilitation.

Methods:

Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and thematic analysis applied. Additionally, the drawing method was also used which involved participants drawing what it was like for them as their loved one was going home. Image analysis was then combined with the interview data.

Results:

Eight significant others participated in interviews on discharge and completed a drawing describing their experience. Five themes were identified (Change, Mixed feelings, Support of family and friends, Journey and Staff interactions).

Conclusion:

The experience of having a loved one with a severe ABI in rehabilitation is an emotional event. Compassionate communication, consistency of information and thorough discharge planning practices were cornerstones to enhancing the experience of significant others, empowering them to undertake their new role.

Keywords

Brain injurylived experienceperspectivesrehabilitationdrawing methodqualitative
Type
Original Article
Information
Brain Impairment , Volume 23 , Issue 3 , December 2022 , pp. 311 - 324
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abrahamson, V., Jensen, J., Springett, K., & Sakel, M. (2017). Experiences of patients with traumatic brain injury and their carers during transition from in-patient rehabilitation to the community: A qualitative study. Disability and Rehabilitation, 39(17), 1683–1694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, C. (2010). Presenting and evaluating qualitative research. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 74(8), 1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Checklin, M., Fernon, D., Soumilas, J., & Stephens, D. (2020). What is it like to have your loved one with a severe brain injury come to rehabilitation? The experiences of significant others. Disability and Rehabilitation, 42(6), 788–797.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cheung, M. M. Y., Saini, B., & Smith, L. (2018). Drawing asthma: An exploration of patients’ perceptions and experiences. Journal of Asthma, 55(3), 284–293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cross, K., Kabel, A., & Lysack, C. (2006). Images of self and spinal cord injury: Exploring drawing as a visual method in disability research. Visual Studies, 21(2), 183–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Goumoëns, V., Didier, A., Mabire, C., Shaha, M., & Diserens, K. (2019). Families’ needs of patients with acquired brain injury: Acute phase and rehabilitation. Rehabilitation Nursing Journal, 44(6), 319–327.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dewan, M. C., Rattani, A., Gupta, S., Baticulon, R. E., Hung, Y.-C., Punchak, M., … Park, K. B. (2018). Estimating the global incidence of traumatic brain injury. Journal of Neurosurgery, 130(4), 1080. doi: 10.3171/2017.10.jns17352,CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eggleton, K., Kearns, R., & Neuwelt, P. (2017). Being patient, being vulnerable: Exploring experiences of general practice waiting rooms through elicited drawings. Social & Cultural Geography, 18(7), 971–993. doi: 10.1080/14649365.2016.1228114 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, A., Bellon, M., Lawn, S., & Lennon, S. (2020). Brain injury, behaviour support, and family involvement: Putting the pieces together and looking forward. Disability and Rehabilitation, 42(9), 1305–1315.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fraser, K. D., & al Sayah, F. (2011). Arts-based methods in health research: A systematic review of the literature. Arts & Health, 3(2), 110–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guillemin, M. (2004). Embodying heart disease through drawings. Health, 8(2), 223–239.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holloway, M., Orr, D., & Clark-Wilson, J. (2019). Experiences of challenges and support among family members of people with acquired brain injury: A qualitative study in the UK. Brain Injury, 33(4), 401–411.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keenan, A., & Joseph, L. (2010). The needs of family members of severe traumatic brain injured patients during critical and acute care: a qualitative study. Canadian Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, 32(3), 25–35.Google ScholarPubMed
Keith, R. A. (1987). The functional independence measure: A new tool for rehabilitation. Advances in Clinical Rehabilitation, 1, 6–18.Google Scholar
Kreutzer, J. S., Stejskal, T. M., Ketchum, J. M., Marwitz, J. H., Taylor, L. A., & Menzel, J. C. (2009). A preliminary investigation of the brain injury family intervention: Impact on family members. Brain Injury, 23(6), 535–547.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Locsin, R., Barnard, A., Matua, A., & Bongomin, B. (2003). Surviving Ebola: Understanding experience through artistic expression. International Nursing Review, 50(3), 156–166.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lond, B. J., & Williamson, I. R. (2018). “Stuck in a loop of fear”: A phenomenological exploration of carers’ experiences supporting a spouse with acquired brain injury. Disability and Rehabilitation, 40(24), 2907–2915.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lutz, B. J., Ellen Young, M., Cox, K. J., Martz, C., & Rae Creasy, K. (2011). The crisis of stroke: Experiences of patients and their family caregivers. Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation, 18(6), 786–797.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manskow, U. S., Arntzen, C., Damsgård, E., Braine, M., Sigurdardottir, S., Andelic, N., … Anke, A. (2018). Family members’ experience with in-hospital health care after severe traumatic brain injury: A national multicentre study. BMC Health Services Research, 18(1), 951.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Migliorini, C., Callaway, L., Moore, S., & Simpson, G. K. (2019). Family and TBI: An investigation using the Family Outcome Measure–FOM-40. Brain Injury, 33(3), 282–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O‘Callaghan, A. M., McAllister, L., & Wilson, L. (2011). Experiences of care: Perspectives of carers of adults with traumatic brain injury. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 13(3), 218–226. doi: 10.3109/17549507.2011.549240 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oyesanya, T. (2017). The experience of patients with ABI and their families during the hospital stay: A systematic review of qualitative literature. Brain Injury, 31(2), 151–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palacios-Ceña, D., Neira-Martín, B., Silva-Hernández, L., Mayo-Canalejo, D., Florencio, L. L., Fernández-de-Las-Peñas, C., … Cuadrado, M. L. (2017). Living with chronic migraine: A qualitative study on female patients’ perspectives from a specialised headache clinic in Spain. BMJ Open, 7(8), 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, J., Ogden, J., & Copland, C. (2015). Using drawings of pain-related images to understand the experience of chronic pain: a qualitative study. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 78(7), 404–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rees, C. (2018). Drawing on drawings: Moving beyond text in health professions education research Perspectives on Medical Education, 7(3), 166–173.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rose, G. (2001). Visual methodologies: An introduction to the interpretation of visual methodologies. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Tverdov, A. H., McClure, K. S., Brownsberger, , M. G., & Armstrong, S. L. (2016). Family needs at a post-acute rehabilitation setting and suggestions for supports. Brain Injury, 30(3), 324–333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westall, C., & Liamputtong, P. (2011). Motherhood and postnatal depression: Narratives of women and their partners. New York: Springer Science & Business Media.CrossRefGoogle Scholar