A study of family transition in the first year post-head injury: perspectives of the non-injured members

Abstract

Background: A traumatic brain injury is a potentially devastating injury. The family responds to this injury by supporting the individual and their recovery but is perceived as being at risk from the challenge of meeting both new and existing demands. While the perspective of individual family members has been well documented there is growing interest in how the family as a whole makes sense of their experiences and how these experiences change over time.

Research Questions: What are the changes reported by non-injured family members during the first year of a family member’s traumatic brain injury? And: within one family what are the effects of traumatic brain injury up to one year following injury?

Methods: A longitudinal narrative case-study design used in-depth qualitative interviews and a structured questionnaire. Nine non-injured family members from three families were recruited and data collection took place at one, three and twelve months post-injury. Analysis was completed on three levels: the individual, the family and between family cases.

Narrative Findings: Trauma, recovery, autobiographical, suffering and family narrative threads were identified. Narratives emphasised that the year post-head injury was a turbulent time where family members were active agents in the process of change.

Quantitative Findings: Data suggested that families recruited to this study had healthy levels of family functioning and these characteristics were sustained in the year post-injury.

Discussion: It is possible that although the structured measure suggested family functioning stayed relatively stable these families were embarking on a series of changes to enable this to occur. The significance of these less obvious changes needs to be acknowledged.

Conclusion: Working with families to validate their experience, resolve their trauma and prevent suffering may go some way to enabling family members to positively adjust to life in the wake of head injury.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Christopher Bailey: orcid.org/0000-0002-7528-6264

ORCID for Nikki Jarrett: orcid.org/0000-0003-2513-8113

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