Abstract
The purpose of this study is to verify the effects of interventional programmes to reduce the psychological distress of family caregivers of persons with traumatic brain injury. An interventional programme was conducted over five sessions which were held for four hours and took place once a week, involving a total of 16 persons. The interventional programme mainly consisted of providing basic knowledge of traumatic brain injury, ways of treating cognitive dysfunction and training of communication skills applying assertiveness training. Evaluation criteria were GHQ-30, SDS, STAI, and RAS as assessment measures and were analysed before and after the intervention and at three month and six month follow-ups after the interventional programme. A considerable reduction of the mean score was statistically recognised compared with SDS at pre-intervention and after the six month follow-up, and STAI at pre-intervention and post-intervention in the analysis of variance of pre- and post-intervention and follow-ups.
