Health status, difficulties, and desired health information and services for veterans with traumatic brain injuries and their caregivers: A qualitative investigation

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 13; no. 9; p. e0203804
• Main Authors: Koehmstedt, Christine, Lydick, Susan E, Patel, Drasti, Cai, Xinsheng, Garfinkel, Steven, Weinstein, Ali A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 12.09.2018; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Brain; Brain injuries; Caregivers; Chronic illnesses; Computer and Information Sciences; Diagnosis; Feasibility studies; Head injuries; Health; Health aspects; Health care; Health care industry; Local communities; Medical personnel; Medicine and Health Sciences; Military; Military personnel; Optimization; People and Places; Practice; Recovery; Services; Social Sciences; Statistics; Traumatic brain injury; Veterans; Web sites; United States > US; Virginia; Iraq
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0203804

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is considered the signature injury among military service member and Veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom with over 360,000 individuals sustaining a first-time TBI in the military. These service members and Veterans, and their caregiver(s), must navigate multiple health systems and find experts across many fields of expertise to recover and optimize functionality. Twenty-two individuals, 10 caregivers of Veterans with TBI, 12 Veterans with TBI, participated in semi-structured interviews. Responses were coded using NVivo. Participants from both groups reported difficulties finding community supportive services (support groups) in local communities. Most participants identified the need for an advocate or point-person to help guide them to needed services and provide ongoing support in the post-acute health care recovery phase. Caregivers and Veterans desired a more personalized recovery plan from their medical professionals. When describing their ideal health information and services model most identified interactivity and twenty-four-hour availability as essential components. To provide Veterans and caregivers with optimal support and resources to navigate a complicated health services system, advocates and personalized care plans are needed. Future research should examine the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of these services.