Occupational Adaptation: A Return to Work Perspective of Persons with Mild to Moderate Brain Injury in South Africa

Abstract

This qualitative study describes the experience of returning to work and the adaptive strategies used by persons with brain injury living in the Western Cape of South Africa. Nine males and one female participated in the study. Face to face, semi structured individual interviews were conducted and data were analyzed using a qualitative approach to explicate patterns and themes. Four themes emerged: 1) A sense of loss of former self; 2) Uncertainty about the future; 3) The road to self acceptance and self belief; and 4) Participation in occupation enables growth. The findings of the study suggest that people with a brain injury undergo a process of reflection and self acceptance before they are ready to adapt to a worker role, and that self efficacy beliefs are instrumental to occupational adaptation. New occupational patterns or routines are formed, based on the functional capacity of the individual with the brain injury. These findings are relevant to occupational science in that they provide insight into the process of occupational adaptation and its link to individual's sense of competence and identity.