Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Scholarly Project

Degree Name

Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT)

Department

Occupational Therapy

First Advisor

Jan Stube

Keywords

Brain Injuries -- rehabilitation; Community Health Services; Adult

Abstract

Each year in the United States, over 1.5 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). TBI can cause a variety of long-term problems with thinking, sensation, language, sensorimotor, and emotions (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). These lead to long-term problems in areas of social participation, emotional wellness, work and volunteer participation, community integration, leisure participation, and healthy life balance. This indicates the need for continuing occupational therapy to address these problem areas. Communitybased interventions provide a service to promote health in an individual’s natural environment and can focus on a variety of occupations. The purpose of this independent study was to research and develop A Community-Based Occupational Therapy Wellness Program for Adult Clients with Traumatic Brain Injury, based on the needs found through a literature review and focus group.

A review of literature and focus group were conducted to guide the development of the Community-Based Occupational Therapy Wellness Program for Adult Clients with Traumatic Brain Injury. Content analysis of the focus group interviews used an exploratory qualitative research approach. The focus group included eight participants from the Grand Forks, ND, region and was one hour in length. Participants were chosen by convenience sampling, and consisted of a homogeneous group. Common themes discussed in the literature included: long term deficits, social functioning, community and work integration, and quality of life following TBI. Each of the seven areas of wellness were addressed during the focus group. The seven areas include: physical, intellectual, social, emotional, occupational, environmental, and spiritual wellness. Common concerns discussed in the focus group included: difficulties with sleep, lack of social support, community mobility and resources, job and volunteer opportunities, and emotional regulation. The product is a 12-week community-based wellness program for individuals who are post-TBI, and includes interventions that address social participation, emotional wellness, work and volunteer participation, leisure participation, community integration, and healthy life balance.

Due to the long term difficulties that Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) can cause, there is a need for ongoing occupational therapy services in a community setting. Clients who are post-TBI would benefit from the Community-Based Occupational Therapy Wellness Program for Adult Clients with Traumatic Brain Injury developed by the researchers. There were several limitations associated with this research project including a small sample size, one focus group, and limited time and resources available to complete the research project. The researchers recommend that the next step of this research project is to implement the Community-Based Occupational Therapy Wellness Program, and complete additional research to determine the effectiveness of the program.

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