Comparing Usability of Tele- and Face-to-face Reflective Group Strategies for Cognitive Skills Training for Persons with Traumatic Brain Injury
People with brain injuries must often deal with cognitive problems encountered in their daily living activities. The present study evaluated the usability of an on-line interactive reflective group straegy on improving problem solving skills and efficacy of persons with traumatic brain injury.
Twenty Hong Kong Chinese with brain injuries participated in this usability study. Five subjects were randomly assigned to an on-line interactive group and a face-to-face group respectively. The two reflective groups had similar structure and contents, including frequent question and answers on basic components problem-solving, group reflections and sharing, and real-life functional problem-solving scenarios and exemplars. A qualitative contextual research design was adopted and the participants were interviewed and observed and usability of both strategies were evaluated and compared.
The participants of the on-line group concerned about the accessibility issues and they generally recognize the value of the on-line strategy in outreach to homebound persons. Accessible design of on-line cognitive rehabilitation resources is recommended. The face-to-face group reported to obtain more verbal and nonverbal social cues and information. This promotes social interaction and thus understanding of the reflective contents.
Acknowledgement:
The work described in this paper was fully supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. PolyU 5291/01M).