Citation

Rietdijk R, Power E, Attard M, Heard R, Togher L. J. Head Trauma Rehabil. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Australia (Ms Rietdijk and Drs Power, Attard, Heard, and Togher); and Graduate School of Health, The University of Technology Sydney, Australia (Dr Power).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/HTR.0000000000000554

PMID

31996605

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of telehealth-based and in-person social communication skills training (TBIconneCT) for people with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) based on outcomes reported by the survivor and a close communication partner. SETTING: Australia. Two telehealth dyads were located outside Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Adults (n = 51) at least 6 months after moderate-severe TBI with social communication skills deficits, and their usual communication partners (family members, friends, or paid carers).

DESIGN: Partially randomized controlled trial, with a telehealth intervention group, in-person intervention group, and a historical control group. MAIN MEASURES: La Trobe Communication Questionnaire (LCQ) (total score, and number of items with perceived positive change). Both self- and other-reports.

RESULTS: Trained participants had significantly more items with perceived positive change than did historical controls. A medium effect size in the sample was observed for improvements in total score reported by trained communication partners after treatment. Comparisons between telehealth and in-person groups found medium to large effect sizes in the sample, favoring the telehealth group on some LCQ variables.

CONCLUSIONS: Whether delivered via telehealth or in-person, social communication skills training led to perceived positive change in communication skills. It was unexpected that outcomes for the telehealth group were better than for the in-person group on some variables.

Language: en