Abstract for presentation at 6th World Congress on Brain Injury

Community Participation after Brain Injury: Public Perceptions of Community and Community Involvement

  • Mr James Geddes, Queens University, Belfast, Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
  • Dr Robert Rauch, Queens University, Belfast and Community Brain Injury Team, Thompson House Hospital, Down Lisburn Trust, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
  • Prof Noel Sheehy, Queens University, Belfast, Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
  • Dr Mark Linden, Queens University, Belfast, Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

    • Objective: To explore the term ‘community’ amongst the general public and to determine how people see themselves and others as being either included or excluded in the community. This data will be used to inform and guide future studies where it will be compared to survivors of brain injury.
    Method: A qualitative and quantitative approach was employed which sought to examine how the participants viewed individuals who they saw as either included or excluded from their community. Participants were asked to rank order a number of dimensions, taken from a range of community integration measures, in order of most importance to their community involvement. Participants were drawn from a convenience sample of sixty member of the public.
    Results: Thematic analyses of the results will be reported and their theoretical implications discussed.
    Conclusion: Through understanding how the public views their own sense of community, and community involvement, we may ascertain how survivors of brain injury could be more fully integrated into such communities.

    Conference Organiser - ICMS Pty Ltd