Shaping and negotiating futures in brain injury rehab
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Shaping, sharing and negotiating futures in brain injury rehabilitation
IRAS ID
147264
Contact name
Julie Latchem
Contact email
Research summary
This research aims to explore the experiences of people who have suffered severe acquired brain injuries, their families/friends and the healthcare professionals (HCPs) that treat and care for them during their rehabilitation.
These three groups all have different roles in shaping the future of the patient in the longterm.
The relationships they have with one another are a critical part of the rehabilitation process and significantly contribute to care quality and the rehabilitative experience for patients and their families and the working lives of HCPs. However, these relationships
are often known to be ‘conflict laden’. This research therefore seeks to investigate interactions between patients, their
families and HCPs, working processes in day to day rehabilitation of patients with acquired brain injuries, organisational structures and broader health and social care policy in order to understand what affects these relationships and their implications for long term patient care/patient outcomes.
The focus on relationships is important because research has shown that positive relationships lead to better patient
rehabilitative outcomes, higher levels of patient satisfaction and patient, family and HCP wellbeing.
Strained relationships have been associated with poorer patient outcomes, difficulties with discharge processes and increased
length of stay.
The key research questions are:
1) How are the futures of people with brain injury shaped and negotiated through a) Day to day interaction, b)
Organisational process and practice and c) Policy.
2) What constitutes positive relationships in brain injury rehabilitation?
3) What challenges and tensions arise in the relationships between patients, their families and HCPs during the
rehabilitative process, what causes them, and how are they resolved?
This study involves the observation of brain injury rehabilitation in two nonNHS
inpatient neurological rehabilitation
settings and interviews with patients, family members and HCPs.
A62.REC name
Social Care REC
REC reference
14/IEC08/0014
Date of REC Opinion
21 May 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion