Eliciting the Perspective of Brain Injury Survivors

Fair process and brain injury survivors, page 2 Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a serious public health problem in the U.S., with 1.4 million new injuries diagnosed each year, and 80,000 to 90,000 new long-term disabilities. The Institute of Medicine’s Quality Chasm report calls for providing patient-centered care that reflects patients ’ values, preferences, and expressed needs. Yet brain injury can affect many aspects of a survivor’s life, from cognitive functioning, to emotional, psychosocial, and physical well-being, ability to work and participate in the community, socio-economic status, and perception of self. These consequences pose challenges to including the brain injury patient’s perspective in treatment decision-making processes and quality improvement efforts. This study used the participatory research method photovoice with eight adult brain injury survivors between the ages of 40 and 60 who represented their lives, point of view, and experience using self-generated photographs. They discussed their photos together in a group, wrote personal narratives for selected images, and grouped their photos and narratives into nine categories: Th