Assessment of community integration following rehabilitation for traumatic brain injury

TLDR

Community integration refers to participation in home‑like settings, social networks, and productive activities such as employment, school, or volunteer work. The study aimed to evaluate outcomes for individuals with traumatic brain injury receiving rehabilitation in model systems programs. Community integration was assessed using the Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ). The CIQ showed good test‑retest reliability, internal consistency, discriminated TBI patients from non‑disabled individuals, and revealed that model systems patients achieved significantly higher home and social integration scores than a large community TBI sample, supporting its usefulness for program evaluation.

Abstract

Community integration is defined as integration into a home-like setting, integration into a social network, and integration into productive activities such as employment, school, or volunteer work. For the purpose of evaluating outcomes for individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who are provided with rehabilitation services in model systems programs, community integration was assessed using the Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ). The CIQ was found to have good test-retest reliability and internal consistency. It could also discriminate between individuals with TBI and individuals who have no apparent disabilities. Individuals treated in model systems programs revealed significantly better scores on home integration and social integration when compared to a large community sample of individuals with TBI. Although these findings are preliminary, it appears that the CIQ is a useful measure for rehabilitation program evaluation.