Community partnered peer support after traumatic brain injury: a feasibility case study.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Community Health

Background:

• Peer support can significantly improve the rehabilitation journey for individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI).
• Co-design approaches are crucial for effectively integrating peer support into TBI rehabilitation.
• This study evaluated the feasibility of a community-based peer support program for moderate to severe TBI survivors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of implementing a co-designed, community-based peer support program for individuals with moderate to severe TBI.
• To understand the process, resource, management, and scientific indicators of feasibility for this intervention.

Main Methods:

• A case series pre-post feasibility study was conducted in partnership with a brain injury organization.
• Participants included adults with moderate to severe TBI within 12 months of injury.
• Feasibility was measured by recruitment/retention rates, intervention adherence, implementation fidelity, and pre-post changes.

Main Results:

• The study achieved most feasibility measures with three participants.
• Process feasibility was met with a 60% recruitment and 100% retention rate.
• Resource and management feasibility were high (100% adherence), but scientific outcomes showed limited change.

Conclusions:

• A co-designed peer support program is feasible for people with TBI.
• Future research should explore scalability and refine outcome measures to better capture peer support benefits.
• This intervention holds potential for enhancing TBI rehabilitation.