Qualitative analysis of perceived environmental barriers of people with Traumatic Brain Injury

While many of the important outcomes occurring after Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) have been documented, information about environmental barriers experienced in the decades after TBI is lacking. This presentation will use cross-sectional analysis of the changing pattern of environmental barriers encountered by persons with TBI occurring throughout the decades following injury. One overarching research question guided this investigation: “Do environmental factors differ by years post-injury and/or age at injury?” A sample of 243 people who received inpatient rehabilitation, representing six cohorts of individuals at various time periods post-injury and two cohorts of individuals injured before and after age 30, were asked about environmental challenges they may have faced. Participants were asked to specifically describe the barriers that were identified and what they typically do to overcome those barriers. This presentation will focus on qualitative study results which will be used to better define the long-term issues to be addressed in individuals with TBI. More importantly, this study, by identifying problems faced by the longest-term survivors, should help design interventions to avoid, lessen, or delay those same problems in others, thereby improving the lives of people living with cognitive and physical disabilities.