Brain Inj. 2006 Feb;20(2):133-41.
Aquatics, health-promoting self-care behaviours and adults with brain injuries.
Driver S, Rees K, O'Connor J, Lox C.
University of North Texas, TX, USA.
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of an aquatic programme on the health promoting behaviours of adults with brain injuries.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Eighteen individuals participated in the programme and were randomly assigned to an experimental (n = 9) or control group (n = 9). Health promoting behaviours, physical self-concept and self-esteem were measured pre- and post-intervention. Significant differences and large effect sizes were found between scores for the experimental group only, indicating an increase in health promoting behaviours, physical self-concept and self-esteem.
CONCLUSIONS: Results have useful implications for health professionals as exercise prescription may enhance health promoting behaviours and decrease health care costs after a brain injury.
Int J Rehabil Res. 2005 Dec;28(4):341-7.
A pilot study on the effectiveness of tele-analogy-based problem-solving training for people with brain injuries.
Soong W, Tam SF, Man WK, Hui-Chan C.
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.
People with brain injuries must often deal with cognitive problems, including social problem solving. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a 20-session, online, interactive, skill-training programme on the solving of problems using analogies. It was hypothesized that the programme could help people with brain injuries learn better problem-solving skills through systematic, theoretically driven learning strategies. Fifteen Hong Kong-Chinese with brain injuries participated in this pilot study. They were randomly assigned to an online programme, a computer-assisted programme or a therapist-administered programme. The three programmes had a similar structure and contents, including basic components problem solving, reflective sessions and functional problem solving. Outcome measures included the Category Test of Halstead-Reitan Test Battery, and a daily problem-solving performance and self-efficacy checklist. The results showed that the subjects of the three programmes generally demonstrated higher post-training self-efficacy and basic problem-solving skills. The group using the online programme, however, showed better and quicker improvements in problem-solving performance, and demonstrated a general trend towards making fewer errors in complex problem-solving tasks. In conclusion, people with brain injuries can use the successful problem-solving experiences obtained in the training programmes with different delivery modes to solve daily living problems that are similar in nature. However, the generalizability of the effects of the programme is still to be determined.