Communication training for people with traumatic brain injury and their communication partners via telehealth

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common cause of disability, which frequently causes impairments in communication skills. These impairments affect successful participation in conversations and have a long-term impact on relationships, employment, and social life. Training communication partners to use a positive and supportive approach to communication when having conversations with people with TBI has been demonstrated to be effective in improving outcomes. However, it is challenging for communication partners of people with TBI to access this training due to competing time demands and distance from rehabilitation services. Using telehealth to provide communication skills training could offer a potential solution. This thesis investigated the potential for using telehealth to provide communication skills training to people with TBI and their communication partners through: (1) a systematic review of the literature focussed on telehealth-based interventions involving family caregivers of people with TBI, (2) a reliability study comparing videoconferencing-based assessment with in-person assessment of the communication of people with TBI, (3) a single case experimental design study of telehealth-based communication skills training involving two people with severe TBI and their communication partners, and (4) a clinical trial of communication skills training for people with moderate-severe TBI and their communication partners involving 51 participants with comparison across telehealth delivery, in-person delivery, and a historical control group. Each of these studies provided evidence supporting the use of telehealth for assessment and training of social communication skills after TBI. The positive findings from this research will influence policies relating to brain injury rehabilitation services and potentially support increased provision of services via telehealth in the future