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Stigma following acquired brain injury

Mon 02 Jul 2012

This study aimed to explore whether people who have a brain injury believe other people hold negative views about them because of their brain injury

Introduction

Sometimes people who suffer from illness or injury worry that people hold negative views about them because of their illness or injury. This study aimed to explore whether people who have a brain injury believe other people hold negative views about them because of their brain injury. We were interested to explore whether these beliefs changed depending on whether people were in work or not.

Method

People took part in the study by filling in a questionnaire either online or by paper. 114 participants completed the questionnaire online and 36 completed the questionnaire by paper. The questions were to find out how people think they are viewed by others because of their brain injury, and whether they expect other people to view them negatively. They also aimed to find out about people's confidence in their ability to complete tasks for themselves and their confidence in their ability to work.

Results

The people who filled in the questionnaire believed that others would hold negative views about them because of their brain injury. They were also not confident they could carry out tasks successfully and worried about their ability to work.

Of the people who took part, there was no difference between those who were employed or those who were unemployed in terms of how they thought others would view them. But, amongst those employed with no additional support at work, the more difficulties they experienced at work the more they believed other people would view them negatively.

Conclusions

This study found that people who survived brain injury believe society will view them negatively because of their brain injury, and this was associated with low confidence. It is important that the public, healthcare providers and policy-makers are educated about peoples' experiences after their brain injury. It is also necessary for people to be able to access support services in the community and in the workplace after their injury, to help them manage any difficulties they experience in the future.

If you have any questions or comments about this research please do not hesitate to contact Andrea Ralph on a.j.ralph@2009.hull.ac.uk.

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