Traumatic brain injury and coping processes – improving outcomes by involving family in the rehabilitation process

Abstract

Following a traumatic brain injury, many patients struggle to cope with daily activities and experiences, both at the physical and psychological level. In addition to the patient's own coping process, the family's involvement in the healing process is extremely important. Acute care is usually provided by family members and has the potential to either support or hinder rehabilitation and adaptation processes. In addition to new limits of self-care and complaints caused by brain damage, patients face far-reaching psychosocial problems. Despite increasing interest in the management of brain damage and processing of the disease, there is a lack of health-promoting concepts designed to address the impairments and psychosocial relationship difficulties suffered by people after traumatic brain injury. In this study, rehabilitation potential was identified by analyzing the results of biographical narrative interviews with men who had suffered a traumatic brain injury in an industrial accident, and their relatives. The selection and qualitative analysis of the rehabilitation process of traumatic brain injury patients reveals the potential for intervention and the need for a holistic integration process between the patient, relatives and physicians, which can be further supported by integrating family members into the treatment process.