The impact of community rehabilitation for acquired brain injury on carer burden : an exploratory study.

Objectives: This study evaluated the relative efficacy of a community rehabilitation service and a more traditional outpatient service for carers of people with an acquired brain injury. Methods: Seventeen carers who had received a community intervention were retrospectively compared with 24 carers who had received an outpatient service. Dependent variables were level of met family need, a measure of family dysfunction, carer psychopathology, and carer emotional acceptance. Results: The community sample fared significantly better on all measures except carer psychopathology. Conclusions: These results suggest that community-based services have efficacy for the carer and family. There is a clear need for large clinical trials using standardized instruments to establish what models of service delivery benefit carers