An exploration of participant experience of a communication training program for people with traumatic brain injury and their communication partners

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the experiences of participants who attended communication training programs for people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their everyday communication partners (CP) as part of a non-randomised controlled trial. Method: The participants were people with TBI and their CP, who were family members or carers of the people with TBI. Twenty-six participants (13 participants with TBI and 13 CP) completed the JOINT program, which involved participants with TBI and CP attending the program together. Fourteen participants with TBI completed the TBI SOLO training program, which did not involve the participation of a CP. Semi-structured videotaped interviews were completed by all participants at the end of the training. Using a six-step generic analysis procedure, data were categorised into topics and then subtopics to identify conceptually discrete units. Results: Participants described improvements in communication skills, the impact of improved communication skills, valuable components of the programs and components that needed changes. Conclusion: The accounts of participants provided additional evidence for the effectiveness of the training programs, assisted with identifying helpful components of the training and demonstrated the usefulness of a qualitative research methodology as part of evaluating the outcomes of the clinical trial.Implications for RehabilitationParticipants in social communication skills training programs for people with traumatic brain injury report positive outcomes.Including communication partners in training programs is reported to be beneficial, although there are some challenges.Qualitative methodologies are a useful way of understanding the processes and outcomes of complex interventions such as communication skills training programs.