Picking up the Pieces after TBI: A Guide for Family Members

By Angelle M. Sander, Ph.D.

Associate Director

The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research’s

Brain Injury Research Center

Assistant Professor

Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Baylor College of Medicine

The entire family is affected when a spouse, parent, child, sibling or grandparent has a traumatic brain injury. This guide answers the questions commonly asked by families immediately after the injury and with the passage of time.

• What is a Traumatic Brain Injury?
• What Problems May Your Loved One Have After TBI and What Can You Do To Help?
• How Long Will These Problems Last?
• How Does Brain Injury Affect Family Members?
• Ways to Reduce Stress • Will My Family Ever Get Back to Normal?
• Where Can You Turn for Help?

Emotional trauma is the inevitable partner to the ph ysical trauma of a brain injury. Just as each brain injury is different, so is each family. However, researchers have learned that there are common questions, worries, and fears shared by many families. Yet, too often, families feel alone and isolated as they struggle to find information, locate others with similar experiences, and find someone to listen. As survivors of brain injuries and their families struggle to rebuild their lives, the needs for information and support become even more important.

Picking up the Pieces after TBI helps families do just that by explaining the consequences and effects of traumatic brain injury is clear language and examples that families will be able to readily understand. It not only explains the physical, cognitive (thinking), behavioral and emotional changes that can occur after a traumatic brain injury, it provides families with suggestions and strategies on “what to do”.

The authors recognize that the survivor is not the only person who needs care. The stress on caregivers can be enormous as families adjust their roles and responsibilities at home. There is a special chapter for families on reducing stress, improving problem solving skills, and overcoming negative thinking.

This practical approach to family education is evident throughout the manual. Whether you are a family in the early days of brain injury treatment or whether months or years have passed, this manual has information that will help you understand the complexity and challenges of living with brain injury.

Resources

The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas are nationally recognized leaders in scientific research on traumatic brain injury. By including individuals with TBI and family members or friends in all aspects of their research, training, and education, they recognize that their voices are important and their views provide critical insights into the meaning of survival. The publications produced by TIRR and Baylor College of Medicine provide information for families, paraprofessionals, healthcare professionals, and peers about the effects of traumatic brain injury and the process of rebuilding lives after brain injury.

Lash and Associates is distributing these publications via free downloadable PDF files. Users may print and download publications and are encouraged to inform others of this resource by referring them to http://www.lapublishing.com/blog/2009/family-guide-tbi-recovery/

Please be sure to cite the title and author for each publication whenever using this material on websites, newsletters or handouts in order to acknowledge the authors and their work. This request also applies to any partial use of material.

This work was funded by Grants #133A980058-01 (TBI Model Systems Collaborative Projects, Angelle M. Sander, Ph.D., Principal Investigator), H133470015 (TBI Model Systems, Walter M. High, Ph.D., Principal Investigator), and H133B990014 (Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Interventions for TBI, Walter M. High, Ph.D., Principal Investigator) from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Department of Education. Lash and Associates Publishing/Training, Inc. assists in the dissemination of this information by providing a PDF file for printing and distribution at no cost.

Picking up the Pieces after TBI: A Guide for Family Members
By Angelle M. Sander, Ph.D.