Brain and Physical Injuries - Essay Example

Annotated Bibliography: Brain and Physical Injury Perlesz, Amaryll, Glynda Kinsella, and Simon Crowe. “Psychological Distress and Family Satisfaction Following Traumatic Brain Injury: Injured Individuals and Their Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Carers.” Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation 15.3 (2000): 909-929. Print.The article assesses the psychological outcome of a family whose member has suffered a traumatic brain injury. The assessment was conducted on the patient’s relatives, who reported observable behaviors.

The observable behaviors of the patient with brain injury was noted and used to draw conclusions on the problems associated with brain and physical injury. The researchers found that most of the family members were less psychologically distressed. However, people suffering from brain injury had poorer psychological outcomes than their relatives did. The study also found that spouses of patients with brain injury were subjected to trauma and psychological distress.Bell, Kathleen R., Nancy Temkin R.

, Peter Esselman C., Jason Doctor N., Charles Bombardier S., Robert Fraser T., Jeanne Hoffman M., Janet Powell M., and Sureyya Dukem. “The Effect of a Scheduled Telephone Intervention on Outcome after Moderate to Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomized Trial.” Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 86.5 (2005): 851-856. Print.The authors studied the effectiveness of telephone interventions in counseling and education for brain injury patients. These interventions, coming from home, were compared with the standard follow-ups conducted after one year.

The researchers found that constant telephone interventions made patients feel better than interventions that come after a long time.Esser, E., Valencia, E., Conover, S., Felix, A., Tsai, W.Y. and Wyatt, R. J. “Preventing recurrent homelessness among mentally ill men: a "critical time" intervention after discharge from a shelter.” American Journal of Public Health 87.2 (2007): 256-262. Print. The authors set out to establish strategies that can protect mentally ill persons from becoming homeless.

They sought a bridge between community care and mental institutions. They sampled 96 men with severe mental illness, including brain injury and gave them critical care in an institution. The researchers discovered that most of the men longed for home and families despite the good care they received at the institution. Gan, Caron, Kent Campbell A., Monica Gemeinhardt and Gerald McFadden T. “Predictors of Family system functioning after brain injury.” Informa Healthcare 20.6 (2006): 587-600. Print.The researchers sought to determine the factors that predict family system functioning after one member of the family experiences brain injury.

The researchers reported significant distress among mothers, siblings, spouses, and the entire family unit as compared to the norm. Caregiving and gender were the major predictors identified. Higher caregivers and female members of the family were affected negatively leading to poor family functioning. Jahoda, A., and Markova, I. “Coping with social stigma: people with intellectual disabilities moving from institutions and family home.” Journal of Intellectual Disability Research 48.8 (2004): 719-729. Print.The article discusses the social stigma and the impacts on emotional well-being and life opportunities of persons with brain injury.

People with brain injury develop positive identities to challenge the social norms and stigmatizing views. Participants in the study held a common belief that they endured stigma as they underwent treatment. They were also aware of the stigma that comes from brain injury. Among the views they aired was that they were a minority group being treated with prejudice. Consequently, these patients have had to distance themselves from any service that stigmatizes them. They also tend to isolate themselves from other persons with brain injury.

Kelly, Glenn, Suzanne Brown, Jenny Todd, and Peter Kremer. “Challenging behavior profiles of people with acquired brain injury living in community settings.” Informa Healthcare 22.6 (2008): 457-470. Print.The article documents the challenges facing people with severe brain injury. These are patients who have been referred to behavior management services at community level. The authors found out that the common behaviors are verbal aggression, lack of initiative, and inappropriate social behaviors.

These behaviors prevent the patient from interacting with other families and community members in a socially acceptable manner. As a result, many of them are avoided and left isolated.Ramcharan, Paul and Gordon Grant. “Views and Experiences of People with Intellectual Disabilities and Their Families. (1) The User Perspective.” Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities 14.4 (2001): 348-363. Print. The article is a summary of views and experiences of individuals with mental disabilities, including brain injury.

The article sums up the experiences and views of patients and caregivers. These views and experiences point towards the fact that persons with brain injury want to be home away from the stigmatizing environments of mental institutions and hospitals. Simpson, Grahame, Richard Mohr and Anne Redman. “Cultural variations in the understanding of traumatic brain injury and brain injury rehabilitation.” Informa Healthcare 14.2 (2000): 125-140. Print.The article argues that different cultures understand and experience traumatic brain injury differently.

This misunderstanding also extends to the rehabilitation of patients with traumatic brain injury. However, the patient experience is the same. The study participants drawn from various cultures valued friendliness, homeliness, attentiveness, and guidance from the hospital and mental institution staff. Support from the family was scarce because the families were in constant conflict. This study can improve service provision to patients with brain injury.