Fostering Recovery and Functional Engagement of Children With Traumatic Brain Injury through Technological Supports: A Mini Review
Journal Title: Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research (BJSTR) - Year 2018, Vol 11, Issue 2
Abstract
We provide the reader with a mini review on the use of assistive technology-based interventions for recovering and fostering the functional engagement of children with traumatic brain injury. Traumatic brain injury, assistive technology, functional engagement, quality of life, recovery, and children were merged in Scopus database as keywords. The newest empirical evidences available were detailed and the clinical, educational, psychological, and rehabilitative implications of the findings were critically discussed. Some limitations and future research perspectives were additionally emphasized. Following a traumatic brain injury (TBI), children may experience significant communicative, intellectual, motor, and sensorial impairments with negative outcomes on their daily functioning, and deleterious consequences on their quality of life [1-3]. Additionally, they may encounter post-coma conditions, with a vegetative state, a minimally conscious state, or emerging from it [4-7]. Accordingly, they may be unable to positively interacting with the outside world. Enabling them with an adequate change of accessing to positive stimulation for promoting their independence and self-determination should be considered a crucial rehabilitative objective for parents and caregivers in daily settings [8-10]. However, enrichment programs may be at least only partially satisfactory. Thus, such interventions do not ensure the participant with an active role (i.e., independent) and do not guarantee that he/she will receive the preferable amount of stimulation [11-12]. To overcome this issue, one may envisage assistive technology-based (AT) rehabilitative programs [13-15]. An AT-based intervention may be viewed as an affordable and valid alternative capable of assessing and monitoring the participant’s independent responding and use it purposefully for getting access to the positive stimulation [16-18]. Undoubtedly, AT-based interventions will allow the child to (a) acquire an active role, pursue self-determination, and independently choose among different options, and (b) can be implemented at a relatively low cost with a minimal involvement of staff members, parents, and/or caregivers. In fact, the AT-based approach may be evaluated as a basic modification of direction if compared to the stimulation sessions. Specifically, within the enrichment/stimulation approach, the participant is considered as a passive recipient of the delivered stimulation. A wide amount of literature has been developed on the use of AT for adults, and a relevant number of review papers has been published on this specific topic [19-25]. Conversely, few empirical evidences exist on the use of AT-based programs for children with TBI and post-coma outcomes [26-27]. To fill this gap, we carried out the current mini-review including the newest evidence available on the use of AT-based interventions for recovering and fostering functional engagement of children with TBI. The objectives of the current review were a) To provide the reader with an overview of the literature available within this framework, b) To emphasize strengths and weaknesses of te reviewed studies, c) To critically discuss the outcomes, and d) To suggest some useful future directions for both research and practice. A computerized search was performed in Scopus. Children, TBI, AT, quality of life, recovery, functional engagement, rehabilitation, post-coma, independence, and self-determination were merged as keywords. A manual search was additionally carried out as completion. Overall, twelve documents were found. The eligibility criteria concerned a) At least an empirical contribution with an AT-based program, b) At least a participant aged up to 19 years or less, c) The English language for the published article, and d) The last decade (i.e., 2008-2018) as publication range interval. Accordingly, four articles were critically reviewed. We detailed below a concise overview of the retained papers.
Authors and Affiliations
Viviana Perilli, Fabrizio Stasolla, Dominga Laporta, Stefania Maselli, Isabel Morelli
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP588443
- DOI 10.26717/BJSTR.2018.11.002070
- Views 150
- Downloads 0
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