Training adults with acquired brain injury how to help-seek when wayfinding: an understudied critical life skill

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of a group treatment protocol called NICE (Noticing you have a problem, Identifying the information you need for help, Compensatory strategies, Evaluating progress) to train help-seeking when wayfinding for individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI). Seven participants completed the NICE group treatment in an outpatient rehabilitation department at a university medical centre. A single subject multiple baseline design was employed to evaluate the efficacy of the NICE group treatment. The Social Behaviour Rating Scale and the Executive Function Route-Finding Task- Revised were repeated measures used to evaluate potential changes in help-seeking and wayfinding. Secondary outcome measures included pre- and post-treatment evaluation of social problem solving and social cognition. Results revealed that all participants improved on measures of help-seeking and wayfinding. Patterns of improvement and implications for rehabilitation are discussed. This is the first experimental study to evaluate the treatment of help-seeking behaviours and discuss its application to wayfinding in adults with ABI. Preliminary evidence supports further investigation of the NICE group treatment protocol.

KEYWORDS:

• Help-seeking
• wayfinding
• cognitive rehabilitation
• social problem solving
• acquired brain injury
• group treatment

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge Dr. Amanda Childs for her assistance with the project. Portions of this article were presented in preliminary form at the 2016 Rehabilitation Psychology Symposium in Atlanta, GA and the 2016 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine conference in Chicago, IL.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This investigation was funded by the Evelyn Bullock Fund.