Interventions to support children after a parental acquired brain injury: a scoping review
Kate Dawes1, Grahame Simpson3, Lauren Lines2, Maayken van den Berg21SA Brain Injury Rehabilitation Service, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia2Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia3John Walsh Centre for Rehabilitation Research, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Abstract
Background/Objective: Parental brain injury causes significant changes to children’s lives, yet children are seldom the target of interventions. This scoping review aimed to identify psychoeducational interventions employing manualised programs and practice suggestions, in currently available literature, to support children’s health literacy, behaviours and emotions after a parental acquired brain injury (ABI).
Methods: Applying a broad search of brain injury definitions, a systematic search of five scientific databases (PsychINFO, MEDLINE, ProQuest, Scopus, Cochrane) and grey literature were conducted. Inclusion criteria included: studies published between 1989 and 2023, in English language, child populations with relationship to parental acquired brain injury, identifying psychoeducational interventions employing manualised programs or practice suggestions .
Results: Two studies detailed psychoeducational manualised programs, and thirteen studies and two resource packs included practice suggestions for children after parental ABI. Manualised program demonstrated increased knowledge, a reduction in behaviours and clarification of children’s emotions supporting their use . Through qualitative content analysis, five common domains within practice suggestions were identified: systemic commitment (n=15); family-centred approaches (n=14); child-centred practices (n=13); structured programs (n=8); and peer support (n=6).
Conclusions: Small, yet supportive findings were found for the use of manualised programs for children to support their health literacy, behaviours and emotions. Practice suggestions emphasised systemic commitment at clinical and organisational levels to provide child and family-centred practices, structured programs and access to peer support, early and throughout adult-health care settings.
Biography
Kate has a BSW and is a current PhD candidate with Flinders University. She has worked clinically in brain injury rehabilitation for 13 years, noticing clinical gaps and lack of resources, which took her on her PhD journey. Her research focuses on the support needs of children after a parental ABI, moving past sequelae, to tangible solutions. Kate has experience in qualitative research methodologies, including interviews with children as young as 5 years, scoping reviews, online national survey, focus groups and co-design.