Jessica Lowry, Thomas Wakeham, Alyson Norman, Jackie Dean, Mark Holloway, Ben Needham-Holmes, Jo Clark-Wilson & Philippa Feltham-White.
This study was conducted by members of the BABICM research group and Plymouth University students in 2019-2020. We are pleased to announce that the paper has now been accepted for publication and should appear in the Journal of Long-Term care shortly. Please find below the abstract:
Context: The Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) literature highlights various factors that can prevent successful community rehabilitation and hinder good long-term outcomes. Brain injury case management is a service model with the potential to overcome these barriers within rehabilitation and longer-term care and support, but there is minimal research surrounding the effectiveness of case management in ABI.
Objectives: This study aims to gain a better understanding of outcomes in brain injury case management and what facilitates good outcomes when working with clients.
Methods: Using a mixed qualitative approach using both conventional content analysis and thematic analysis, 28 Brain Injury Case Managers completed an online qualitative questionnaire about what constitutes a good outcome in brain injury case management. Of these, five took part in a follow-up interview.
Findings: The analysis identified four themes related to brain injury case management outcomes; 1) A client-centred approach to outcome, 2) the role of the Brain Injury Case Manager, 3) Monitoring outcome in case management, and 4) Issues of funding.
Limitations: Response rate to the survey and interviews was low due to recruiting during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study only included Brain Injury case managers and future studies should consider including clients and family members perspectives. Outcome and brain injury case management
Implications: This study identified that brain injury case management is a holistic approach to rehabilitation and case coordination that requires further attention. Appropriate holistic measures of quality of life and outcome need to be developed to support the evidence-base for case management.
Postural Care and Pressure Management in Spinal Cord Injury. Does having a Brain Injury increase risks?
Following on from the recent series of presentations by Rosie Bartlett, hosted by BABICM, we would be delighted if you would participate in the questionnaire below, which will take you about 15-20 minutes to complete.
This series of presentations highlighted questions around the possible correlation of combined diagnoses of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) and Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) in relation to poor outcomes around postural care and pressure management.
Anecdotal case information from participants raised the hypothesis that cognitive, executive impairment and reduced insight in people who had sustained mild to moderate brain injuries were significant factors in maintaining good postural management and also increased the risks associated with development of and treatment of pressure ulcers. BABICM are now raising this survey to explore this hypothesis and to attempt to gain further understanding into the extent to which this is considered a factor of significance by case managers working with people over longer periods, with a view to potentially exploring this hypothesis further with research partners.
The questionnaire has a mixture of questions around numbers of clients and opportunities to express your thoughts through open text responses. Both are important in gaining insight into the extent of issues and your experiences.
Any and all information received from yourself will be confidential. Data included in this survey may be included in published outputs. All data will be anonymised in this process. There will be no direct benefit to you in taking part in this survey. It may, however, shape future work and guidance produced by BABICM and others. Your participation is purely voluntary and you can withdraw at any time.
For any further questions on this study please feel free to contact the Research Group in BABICM at jdean@nableservices.co.uk
Please follow this link to complete the survey https://surveyhero.com/c/e4ac612e