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PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: 
Angelle Sander, Ph.D.
(713) 666-9550

CO-INVESTIGATORS: 
H. Julia Hannay, Ph.D., 
(713) 793-2794
 

Walter M. High, Ph.D.
(713) 666-9550

 
 

Principal Investigator: Angelle Sander, Ph.D.

Co-Investigators: H. Julia Hannay, Ph.D., Walter M. High, Ph.D.

Specific Aims:
· To survey the perceived needs of underserved family members with regard to social and professional support, and with regard to preferences of media for receiving  educational information. 
· To implement a community-based family intervention to provide education and cognitive- behavioral interventions to underserved family members.
· To assess the impact of the intervention on family members’ distress, coping skills, perceptions, family relationships, and satisfaction with social support. 
· To compare a brief intervention using written materials to an intensive one-day seminar.
· To assess family members’ satisfaction with the intervention. 
· To increase the diversity of ethnic backgrounds of persons participating in the Brain Injury Association of Texas (BIATX). 

Sample:  280 family members of persons with severe, moderate, and complicated mild injuries who were admitted to a local county hospital serving primarily members of the indigent and underserved community; the population is approximately 1/3 Caucasian, 1/3 Hispanic, and 1/3 African-American.

Design:  In-home interviews will be conducted with family members at 6 months following injury.  Baseline measures of emotional distress, coping skills, family functioning, and satisfaction with social support will be obtained.  Family members will be offered the opportunity to participate in an educational seminar.  Components of the seminar include: general education about TBI and its common sequelae; training in managing cognitive and behavioral problems; training in stress management techniques and coping skills; discussion of changing roles and relationships; and education in accessing local and national resources.  Family members who do not participate in the seminar will be provided with written educational materials.  Post-test measures will be collected at 1 month following participation in the seminar or provision of the educational materials.

Predictor Variables:  Family members’ age, gender, ethnicity, and relationship to the person with injury; participation in seminar versus written educational materials. 

Primary Outcome Measures:   Family Needs Questionnaire; Brief Symptom Inventory; Family Assessment Device; Ways of Coping Questionnaire; Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support; Caregiver Appraisal Scale; Satisfaction Survey

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