Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is sudden damage to the brain caused by a jolt or blow to the head. The common causes of TBI are due to falls, sports injuries, and car or motorcycle crashes. TBI can be classified into several types, ranges from a mild concussion to severe permanent brain damage. Nevertheless, the impacts of TBI are quite devastating not only to the patient but also on the family. It may last for several years, hence the affected patient definitely requires ongoing care which is normally provided by informal caregivers, such as spouses, parents, or other family members. In addition, TBI can cause drastic changes to the life of the family members. The caregiver’s stresses including psychological problems, family burdens, changes in behavior and changes in social roles will be discussed critically in this article. Based on the literature, many caregivers lack good coping strategies in dealing with their stress. More well-designed interventions is an absolute necessity among TBI family caregivers to lessen the stress and improve their social well-being and functioning.
Highlights
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a non-hereditary condition where the brain is damaged and possibly affects cognitive, physical, and psychosocial functions with an associated diminished or altered state of consciousness, temporarily or permanently
The daunting role of taking care TBI family members usually made the caregivers feel that their life is not their own and in the worst case, they are not able to pursue their own interests and social life
Caregivers of TBI family members often suffer psychological problems including depression, anxiety, stress and burden (Sander, High, & Hannay, 1997; Knight, Devereux, & Godfrey, 1998; Watanabe, Shiel, Asami, Taki, & Tabuchi; Rivera, Elliott, Berry, Grant, & Oswald, 2007).Statistic shown that approximately 48-60% of caregivers looking after a person with TBI may experience depression (Douglas, & Spellacy, 2000; Rivera et al, 2007)
Summary
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a non-hereditary condition where the brain is damaged and possibly affects cognitive, physical, and psychosocial functions with an associated diminished or altered state of consciousness, temporarily or permanently. TBI influences the roles and responsibilities within the family due to the behavioural changes of TBI family members. Caregivers of TBI family members often suffer psychological problems including depression, anxiety, stress and burden (Sander, High, & Hannay, 1997; Knight, Devereux, & Godfrey, 1998; Watanabe, Shiel, Asami, Taki, & Tabuchi; Rivera, Elliott, Berry, Grant, & Oswald, 2007).Statistic shown that approximately 48-60% of caregivers looking after a person with TBI may experience depression (Douglas, & Spellacy, 2000; Rivera et al, 2007).
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