Facilitators and obstacles to the use of a cognitive orthosis for meal preparation within the homes of adults with a moderate to severe traumatic brain injury: Informal caregivers and health-care professionals’ perspectives

ABSTRACT

A cognitive orthosis named COOK was developed and implemented to facilitate meal preparation for adults with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) living in an alternative housing unit. This study aimed to explore facilitators and barriers to the potential use and implementation of COOK in a new context (i.e., within the homes of people living with a TBI in the community). For this purpose, 20 stakeholders (e.g., health-care professionals, clinical coordinators, informal caregivers of individuals with TBI) were interviewed. Participants identified various potential benefits of this technology (e.g., improving independence and confidence of people with TBI) and facilitators (e.g., clinical and technical supports, helpful functionalities) that could facilitate the use and implementation of COOK within a home environment. However, numerous questions remained unanswered regarding the logistics surrounding the implementation of such technology. Thus, further studies and modifications are required to facilitate future implementation of this technology among individuals living in their own homes.

KEYWORDS:

• assistive technology
• meal preparation
• qualitative study
• rehabilitation
• traumatic brain injury

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all participants for their time and insight. We would like to thank Erika Dubuc for her implication in the data collection and analysis. N. Bier is supported by a salary award from the FRQS. M. Gagnon-Roy is supported by a doctoral bursary from the FRQS (#252232).

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the Consortium for the development of research in trauma (FRQS, #33403): Association des établissements de réadaptation en déficience physique du Québec, Fonds de recherche du Québec - santé, Ministry of Health and Social Services, the Association Québécoise des établissements de santé et de services sociaux, the Quebec Rehabilitation Research Network and the Société d'assurance automobile du Québec.