Technology and TBI: Perspectives of persons with TBI and their family caregivers on technology solutions to address health, wellness, and safety concerns

ABSTRACT

Assistive technologies that are tailored to individuals’ health, wellness, and safety concerns can help people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their family caregivers meet their goals. The purpose of this study was to investigate views of technology in the context of managing one’s everyday life from the perspectives of persons with TBI and their family caregivers. We conducted 27 in-person, semi-structured interviews with persons with TBI (n = 15) and family caregivers (n = 12) and used conventional content analysis to analyze our data. The major themes that emerged were: 1) views of technology, 2) influence of technology on daily life, 3) desired technology solutions to address health, wellness, and safety concerns, and 4) barriers to adopting technology solutions. To address ongoing concerns, persons with TBI and family caregivers expressed a desire to have a patient portal to share information and communicate with providers, motion sensing devices to provide guidance for mobility, on-demand access to in-home rehabilitation therapy, access to a “social gym” where the persons with TBI could virtually exercise and interact with others, and technologies that help with sleep and facilitate peer support. These findings provide direction for implementation, design, or adaptation of technologies to address the concerns of this population.

KEYWORDS:

• assistive technology
• family caregiver
• health
• person
• safety
• traumatic brain injury
• wellness

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Shepherd Center providers and staff for assisting with recruitment. Thanks to Jenna Norelli for input on data analysis and to our collaborators for suggestions on manuscript revision.

Disclosure Statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Data Availability Statement

Data can be obtained by contacting the first author.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the National Institute for Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (PI, F. DeRuyter) (Grant # 90RE5023-01-00).