The challenges of everyday technology in the workplace for persons with acquired brain injury

Abstract

Purpose: To explore and describe how persons with an acquired brain injury (ABI) managed the everyday technology (ET) that they needed to use in their workplace and how this use influences their opportunities to work. Methods: Nine persons with an ABI were interviewed and observed when managing ET in their workplace. The data were analysed qualitatively with a constant comparative method. Results: The main category, “The challenge of managing ET in the workplace”, consisted of three categories, all of which reflected different kinds of discrepancies between the participants' ability to manage ET and the demands that ET imposes on them in work: “Struggling with ET to be able to continue to work; “Depending on strategies to cope with ET to continue in a particular profession”, and “Managing ET at work but concerned about keeping up with the changes”. Conclusions: The result revealed discrepancies between the abilities of the persons with ABI to manage ET in relation to the demands that technology imposed on them in their work setting. This indicated that professionals need to consider the role of ET when designing interventions supporting a person's return to work after an ABI.

Key words::

• work
• technology
• outcome assessment
• occupational therapy
• brain injuries

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the participants in the study for their generosity in sharing their experiences of managing ET at work. The authors would also like to thank the occupational therapists at the County Council of Norrbotten who supported the selection of participants. Colleagues at the Occupational Therapy Programme in the Department of Health Science at Luleå University of Technology are also thanked for constructive suggestions concerning the evolving manuscript. The County Council of Norrbotten and Luleå University of Technology funded the investigation.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.