Living with cognitive-communicative difficulties following traumatic brain injury: Using a model of interpersonal communication to characterize the subjective experience

Abstract

This study was undertaken to better understand the subjective experience of long-term cognitive-communicative impairments following severe cerebral insult. An additional aim was to explore the utility of a model of interpersonal communication in elucidating how such difficulties affect communicative interactions. Participants in the study were five dyads in which one member had sustained a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Data collection and analysis utilized both qualitative and quantitative methodology. It was found that individuals with long-term TBI continue to experience significant communication difficulties, which in combination with problems of memory, fatigue and irritability commonly generate unsatisfactory interpersonal communication experiences. The model of interpersonal communication provided a useful framework for considering why these interactions are ineffective or unsatisfactory. It is felt that the methodology outlined in this paper may offer a useful means of investigating the relationship between neurogenic communication impairments/disabilities and interpersonal communication difficulties experienced by individuals from a variety of clinical populations.