Awareness of disability after acquired brain injury and the family context

Abstract

The dimension of family context for awareness of disability following acquired brain injury (ABI) is examined through a qualitative discourse analysis. Three participants with ABI, who were identified by clinicians and relatives as demonstrating difficulties with awareness of disability, and three relatives were interviewed. The findings highlight important contextual parameters influencing the emergence of families' accounts for disability after ABI: (1) availability of sense-making resources and use of pre-injury meanings, and (2) incongruity within family sense-making and resultant orientating, disputing and contesting of accounts within families. These findings are discussed in relation to pre-existing literature, and applications are suggested for family intervention following ABI.