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Changing Family Needs After Brain Injury

Journal of Rehabilitation, Oct-Dec, 1998 by Peter Stebbins, Paul Leung

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Family members living with or providing care for a brain injured relative during the first two years post-injury (Table 1) showed a high level of agreement in rating medical and professional supports as "Important" or "Very Important." A high proportion of Group 1 respondents also rated these medical and professional support needs as "Met."

Social Supports and Health Information also ranked high in importance. However, the degree to which these needs were perceived as met varied somewhat. The degree to which needs were perceived as "Met" in Group 1 ranged from 12.5% to 60%, with an average (mean) of 41.25%.

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Family members living with or providing care for a brain injured relative beyond the first two years post-injury (Table 2) also rated Medical and Professional Supports as "Important" or "Very Important." However, unlike Group 1, Group 2 had a much lower rating of needs perceived as being "Met." Group 2 respondents also rated Social Supports, Financial Supports and Health Information as "Important" or "Very Important." The degree to which these needs were perceived by Group 2 respondents as "Met" ranged from 4.8% to 42% with a mean of 21.2%.

Analysis Of Family Needs

In addressing the question, do the need response patterns differ between the two groups and, specifically, does the level of "Not Met" need increase as time since injury increases? Analysis of the data was carried out using Chi-Square and Spearman's correlation coefficient.

The Chi-Square statistical test for relatedness or independence was used to determine if differences in the need response patterns between the two groups were statistically significant. The total sum of each of the four need response categories (NA, Yes, Partly, No) was calculated for each of the two groups and then the Chi-Square statistic was computed. The calculated X2 value was 34.126 which at df = 3 was statistically significant at the 0.001 level.

To test whether or not levels of unmet need increased as time since injury progressed, a set of percentages was calculated using needs rated as "Important" or "Very Important" (see - Kreutzer, et al, 1994). Needs rated as "Not important" suggest that they are not as critical for the respondent. For each respondent the number of needs rated "Not Met" was divided by the number of items rated "Important" or "Very Important." The mean percentage of needs rated "Not Met" for Group 1 was 21.32 % (SD = 0.1228) and for Group 2 was 36.06 % (SD= 0.308). Conversely, the number of needs rated "Met" when divided by the number of needs rated "Important/Very Important" for each respondent showed that Group 1 respondents rated more needs as being "Met" (mean 33.43%, SD = 5.87) than group 2 respondents (mean 17.77%, SD=6.11).

Spearman's correlation coefficient was then used to characterize the relationship between unmet need (needs rated as "Not Met") and time since injury. The result of this correlation (rho = 0.435, p [is less than] 0.05) was a positive relationship between time since injury and unmet need. The results of the Chi-Square and Spearman's correlation show statistically significant difference in the need response patterns between the two groups. The degree to which needs are rated as "Not Met" does increase as time since injury progresses.

Health Care Industry

Changing Family Needs After Brain Injury

Journal of Rehabilitation, Oct-Dec, 1998 by Peter Stebbins, Paul Leung

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