Abstract for presentation at 6th World Congress on Brain Injury

The Potential Unlimited Programme (PUP) was developed by Southern Area Brain Injury Service (NSW, Australia) in conjunction with Outward Bound Australia in 1998. It involved participants in fundraising, an outdoor experiential education course and follow-up group. This study examined the effectiveness of two pilot programmes in facilitating psychosocial adjustment for adults with acquired brain injury (ABI), and also sought to examine the contribution of the follow-up stage and post-injury IQ on participants' outcomes. A mixed quantitative and qualitative longitudinal design was employed with programme participants (n=14) and a matched comparison group (n=8) completing a test battery at five points in time. The battery included the Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI) and European Brain Injury Questionnaire (EBIQ). Participants were also interviewed and a thematic analysis carried out utilising the framework of Simpson's (1996) model of adjustment to ABI. Results showed significant improvements in Quality of Life and on many of the scales of the EBIQ for programme participants, and little change on these measures for the comparison group. Significant improvements for most programme participants were sustained at six months and two years following the programme. Participants who regularly attended the follow-up group were seen to make most improvement. Interestingly, no differences in outcome were observed between participants of varying post-injury IQ. Qualitative analysis showed participants were clearly engaged in tasks of adjustment to injury, and provided insights into the important roles of both the outdoor experiential education course and the follow-up group. Acknowledging the limitations of this pilot study, it was concluded the PUP is likely to represent a useful approach for addressing many of the complex issues associated with the process of adjustment to injury after ABI. There is building interest in this programme both within Australia and internationally.