The impact of patient-centered information on patients' treatment adherence, satisfaction, and outcomes in traumatic brain injury rehabilitation

The present study evaluated the effect of the provision of personalized, treatment-relevant information versus the provision of generalized information (via watching professionally produced videos) on TBI patients' rehabilitation outcomes and satisfaction with treatment. The researchers recruited 28 participants upon admission to a VA Medical Center (VAMC) Rehabilitation Unit. Of those 28 participants, 14 patients received personalized medical information and 14 received general medical and health-care information. Both interventions were comprised of three, hour-long sessions between participants and an information provider. Those in the personalized condition were provided with information derived from a review of their medical records and neuropsychological test results, whereas participants in the generalized—or control—group were provided with non-specific information about head injuries and the rehabilitation process.; The findings of the present study demonstrated that compared to the control participants, participants receiving personalized information demonstrated a higher level of participation in physical therapy and superior improvement in cognitive functioning. Moreover, patients in the personalized condition noted greater levels of satisfaction with brain injury information they received, their communication with rehabilitation and medical staff, their personal involvement in treatment, and their overall rehabilitation progress. These results suggest that giving patients personally relevant medical and treatment-related information improved rehabilitation outcomes through fostering an enhanced sense of inclusion and involvement in treatment and potentially by also conveying respect for the patient's “intactness” and autonomous functioning.; Secondary analyses examined (1) desire for healthcare informational control and (2) interpersonal impacts in regard to the information-provision intervention. Informational control preference significantly impacted satisfaction with the communication with rehabilitation and medical-center staff, with participants having a high desire for information indicating a greater level of satisfaction than those with a low informational control preference. Concerning perception of interpersonal behaviors from early in acute rehabilitation, ratings of the participants by therapists involved in rehabilitation treatment demonstrated that patients in the personalized information-provision group were perceived as manifesting more oppressive interpersonal behaviors than those patients receiving more generalized information. When change scores were examined, however, patients receiving personalized information were ultimately seen as changing in the direction of less oppressive interpersonal behavior over time.