A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social
and Psychological Research
to the Department of Psychology,
School of Human and Community Development,
The University of the Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg, South Africa,
2017 / Introduction. The provision of appropriate long term care facilities for people with
acquired brain injury is a portentous issue internationally. There is a global lack of long
term care facilities for people with acquired brain injury and they are often placed in
facilities for the physically disabled or the elderly. It is unclear whether these facilities
are suitable and what effect they may have on well-being and social isolation.
Aim. This interpretive phenomenological study explored how adults with acquired brain
injury experience living in such long term care facilities. Additionally, it described how
such living arrangements impact on social isolation, a particularly devastating
psychosocial consequence of acquired brain injury.
Method. One-on-one, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven adults
who had acquired a brain injury. Each participant had been living in a long term care
facility for at least one year. They were asked questions related to their general lived
experience as well as specific questions to explore their experience of social isolation.
Findings. Thematic content analysis of the interview data led to the following five
categories of themes: overall evaluations (guarded approval, and disapproval); general
lived experience (autonomy, choice, freedom, burden, boredom, and basic needs);
social isolation (loneliness, companionship, and belonging); sources of isolation (living
with the disabled, different disability, age differences, pets, and facility setup); and
sources of well-being (positivity, and meaning). The main findings were that the general
lived experience of people with ABI was mainly negative. The facilities generally met
only basic needs and seldom met higher level psychological needs. Social isolation was
commonly reported among residents with ABI in long term care facilities and was linked
to age differences and having a brain injury in a facility geared for people with other
disabilities. The findings were understood in relation to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological
systems theory and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Conclusions. The findings of this study contribute towards filling a theoretical gap in
understanding the lived experience of people with ABI in long term care facilities and
how this contributes to social isolation. The findings have potential value to family
members of people with acquired brain injury considering various living arrangement
options. They can also be useful for long term care facilities housing people with brain
injury to make changes that may result in greater well-being of their residents. / MT 2018
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/23800 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Walland, Emma Jane |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | Online resource (103 leaves), application/pdf, application/pdf |
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