Impaired self-awareness is a common consequence following a brain injury in adults, particularly when the brain injury is moderate or severe. Impaired self-awareness affects engagement in rehabilitation and results in poor long term functional outcomes. There is a paucity of literature regarding self-awareness following a brain injury in childhood. Consequently, little is known about the differences between children and adults in the domain of self-awareness following brain injury. Children and young people are at different stages of development when their injury occurs and this study investigates the impact of the brain injury on the development of self-awareness. The aim of this research study is to gather quantitative and qualitative longitudinal data from children and young people who have experienced a moderate to severe traumatic brain injury in order to understand their level of self-awareness. This study used a longitudinal multiple case study design with mixed methodology. Fifteen children and young people with a moderate/severe traumatic brain injury were recruited and data were collected from the children and young people, their parents and their teacher over an eighteen month period. The results show that children and young people have an interruption to the development of self-awareness following a traumatic brain injury. Impaired self-awareness is not chronic in this group and they continue to make developmental gains in time. This study adds to our understanding of the interruption of self-awareness development following a brain injury in childhood. Occupational therapists have a particular role to play while engaging with children and young people in the everyday context of their lives, which is supportive of greater self-awareness. As children and young people become more able to assess their own performance, they may be in a better position to set realistic rehabilitation goals. Implications for future clinical and academic children’s neurorehabilitation are outlined.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:690493 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Wales, Lorna |
| Publisher | University of Warwick |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/80020/ |
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