Misconceptions about traumatic brain injury among educators: has anything changed over the last 20 years?

Abstract

Purpose: To examine educational professionals’ knowledge and understanding of childhood brain injury.

Materials and methods: Educational professionals from all schools in the state of Victoria, Australia, were invited to participate in an online cross-sectional survey consisting of 20 questions assessing knowledge of concussion and 30 questions examining knowledge of traumatic brain injury (n = 364).

Results: On average, participants correctly answered 16/20 (80%) questions about concussion and 24.3/30 (81%) about traumatic brain injuries. Participants who had previously taught a child with a brain injury demonstrated greater knowledge of traumatic brain injury, but not concussion, than those who had not. There were no differences in knowledge of concussion or brain injury between participants who had and had not attended a briefing session about concussion. Misconceptions displayed by educators predominantly related to the ongoing effects and impact of both concussion and traumatic brain injury, including effects on emotion, cognition, and social behaviour, as well as the increased risk of multiple injuries following an initial brain injury. When participants’ responses to the brain injury questionnaire were compared with results reported by Farmer and Johnson-Gerard in 1997 using the same questionnaire, many of the same misconceptions were evident in the two samples of educational professionals.

Conclusions: Although educators demonstrated reasonable understanding of concussion and brain injury, some gaps in knowledge were apparent. Providing educational professionals with further training and professional development regarding childhood brain injuries would enhance their preparedness to manage students with these injuries in the school environment.

Implications for Rehabilitation

• Mild to moderate brain injuries are relatively common among school-aged children, and educators may be required to manage and support students with these injuries in the school environment.

• This study shows that educators generally have a good understanding of the symptoms and immediate effects of brain injuries, but have gaps in knowledge regarding the potential socioemotional, behavioural, and cognitive difficulties and vulnerabilities to multiple injuries that may be present during recovery.

• Pre-service training and professional development may increase educators’ understanding and capacity to accommodate the needs of students with brain injuries.

Keywords:

• Traumatic brain injury
• education
• educator knowledge
• children
• misconceptions
• concussion

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.