Improving the communication of people with severe traumatic brain injury: A clinical trial

创伤性脑损伤是澳大利亚年轻人残疾的主要原因，在年轻男性中尤为普遍。这种情况会干扰思考和解决问题。最终，这些问题表现在言语沟通受损。创伤性脑损伤后的沟通问题可能会使重要的关系，如父亲，丈夫和牺牲，不可能维持。那些受影响的人在社交上不合适，不舒服，这会导致一生失去友谊，失业和社会孤立。最大限度地减少这些终身影响对受影响者的健康至关重要，对减轻疾病的经济负担至关重要。有两种方法可以改善创伤性脑损伤患者的沟通。社会技能培训是有帮助的，培训合作伙伴处理困难的沟通行为也是如此。然而，到目前为止，还没有研究同时研究这两种康复方法。因此，不知道这两种方法中的一种或两种方法是否能获得最佳结果。本项目采用临床试验方法，与对照组相比，对三种治疗创伤性脑损伤的方法进行了创新性评价。该试验涉及概念上的进步，包括将治疗的成本效益作为结果指标，并包括先进的方法来衡量口头交流的复杂性。首席调查员多学科小组在研究创伤性脑损伤及其康复所需学科方面拥有国际跟踪记录。

Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of disability in young Australians, and is particularly prevalent in young men. The condition disturbs thinking and problem solving. Ultimately, these problems manifest in impaired verbal communication. Communication problems following traumatic brain injury can make critical relationships-such as father, husband, and employee-impossible to sustain. Those affected are socially inappropriate and uncomfortable to be around, which causes a lifetime of lost friendships, unemployability, and social isolation. Minimisation of these lifelong effects is of the utmost importance to the health of those affected, and is critical to reducing the economic burden of the condition. Two approaches have been shown to improve the communication of those with traumatic brain injury. Training in social skills is helpful, as is training partners to deal with difficult communication behaviours. However, to date, no research has concurrently studied these two approaches to rehabilitation. Consequently, it is unknown whether best results are achieved with either one of the two methods, or both. The present project uses a clinical trials approach in an innovative evaluation of three methods of treating those with traumatic brain injury compared with a control group. The trial involves the conceptual advances of including cost effectiveness of treatment as an outcome measure, and inclusion of advanced methods to measure the intricacies of verbal communication. The multidisciplinary team of Chief Investigators has international track records in the requisite disciplines for the study of traumatic brain injury and its rehabilitation.