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ABSTRACT
The aim of this article is to explore the perception of being a support person for clients with acquired brain injury undergoing vocational rehabilitation. Nine support persons, identified by clients with brain injury, were interviewed. Interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis, resulting in 3 themes for assisting the client: commitment, adaptation, and cooperation. Within each theme, multiple dimensions were identified, reflecting the complexity of vocational rehabilitation following acquired brain injury. Commitment built on social relations is linked to sustainability of support. The included support persons’ role was especially valuable in contexts where adaptation and cooperation were required.
Acknowledgments
We extend our thanks to the interviewees who participated in this study.
Notes on contributors
Marie Matérne, MSW, is a social worker. She has worked in a range of areas within the field of disability. She started her career as an assistant nurse and later was a social worker in different rehabilitation clinics. She has also worked as the head of a company that provided personal assistance for people with disability and as the head of an adult habilitation center. She has also been involved in various projects and committees to give people with disabilities possibilities to enter the labor market or return to work after injury or disease. Now she is working part time as a business developer for Habiliation and assistive technology in Region Örebro County and part time as a PhD candidate in disability research, and her project is about return to work after acquired brain injury. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the International Network of Social Workers in Acquired Brain Injury.
Lars-Olov Lundqvist, PhD, is Associate Professor in psychology and research leader at the University Health Care Research Center, Örebro University, Sweden, and former head of the Centre for Rehabilitation Research, Region Örebro County. He has a broad background in psychology, with specific expertise in epidemiological, psychometric, and experimental research in affective neuroscience. His work is mainly focused on emotional regulation and challenging behaviors in general and clinical populations. He is recognized for his proficiency in statistical analysis, including general linear model, confirmatory factor analysis, and item response theory. He is supervisor of five PhD students and has broad experience in evaluating others’ works as a member of the Region Örebro County Research Committee, a PhD examination board member, and expert reviewer for three scientific journals on a regular basis. He is involved in several international research collaborations and has extensive experience in leading scientific conferences. For more than 10 years he was the head of the Disability and Rehabilitation Research conference in Örebro.
Thomas Strandberg, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in caring sciences and disability research at Örebro University and the Swedish Institute for Disability Research. He worked earlier in the Social Care Department as a social worker with people with intellectual disabilities and as a high school teacher in the health care program in upper secondary school. He defended his thesis, Adults with Acquired Traumatic Brain Injury: The Changeover Process and Consequences in Everyday Life, in 2006. His research focuses on rehabilitation and returning to working life after acquired brain injury and also on disability theory. He is a member of the board of the Nordic Network on Disability Research and during recent years he has held the position as head of school at the School of Law, Psychology, and Social Work, Örebro University, Sweden.