Article

Abstract The aim of this study is to understand better how individuals with
traumatic brain injury make sense of their adaptation process and their
performance of occupations within this process. For this study, four participants
were interviewed twice. Thereafter analyses following a narrative approach led to
the construction of four individual narratives. The results indicate that the
adaptation process following traumatic brain injury is (1) a necessary struggle
to gain a new identity; (2) facilitated by engagement in familiar occupations in
familiar environments; (3) a protracted learning process that continues long
after rehabilitation ends; (4) individual and situated. The results suggest that
healthcare professionals including occupational therapists should: allow
individuals with traumatic brain injury to test and practise their abilities
within their own home environments; provide them with the necessary space to
practise on their own; guide them in using their own and new strategies in a way
that is both efficient and personally satisfying. Finally, this study discusses
whether rehabilitation services should be offered over a protracted period of
time. Professional support following the rehabilitation period-precisely the
period in which they are trying to establish a meaningful existence with their
disabilities-could be a more useful path to follow.

Langue : ANGLAIS