BACKGROUND: Individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) experience difficulty with obtaining and maintaining employment post-injury. Although vocational rehabilitation (VR) can be one option to provide individuals with TBI support and services to lead to successful employment outcomes, information about these services can be difficult and confusing to navigate. Providing information on evidence-based employment practices to individuals with TBI through social media could be an effective approach.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to compare the effect of a knowledge translation (KT) strategy and the use of a secret Facebook group, on the knowledge of evidence-based employment research by individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI).
METHODS: The study used a randomized pretest-posttest control group design. Sixty individuals with TBI were recruited through clubhouse programs in the state where the authors resided as well as through support groups nationally for individuals with TBI, and were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Both groups received information on evidence-based employment practices for individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) over a three month period. One group received the information via participation in a secret Facebook group while the comparison group received information as an "e-news" email blast. Participants were assessed pre- and post-intervention with a Likert-scale instrument designed to measure knowledge of evidenced-based employment information for TBI.
RESULTS: Both groups gained a significant amount of knowledge between baseline and post-intervention. However, there were no significant differences between groups in knowledge gained at post-intervention.
CONCLUSION: While the study did not identify the most effective means of delivering information to individuals with TBI, it does provide some guidance for future KT research.
Language: en
Keywords
Social media; VR; Vocational Rehabilitation; employment of people with disabilities; supported employment