Hope in Families Project

Description
Based on work conducted with the Efficacy Oriented Case Project (see Previous ABIOS Research Projects), this study reflects a scoping review of hope from the family perspective following brain injury. The study aims to explore the defining features (barriers, facilitators, roles) of hope in the brain injury rehabilitation context and the implications of this for fostering hope in families in the rehabilitation setting.

The study is a collaborative effort with researchers from the Acquired Brain Injury Outreach Service, Centre for Functioning and Health Research, Spinal Outreach Team, Griffith University and University of Queensland

Rationale
Hope is not a concept that is readily amenable to measurement or experimentation and therefore was difficult to investigate in terms of the traditional systematic review.  Scoping reviews provide an overview and way of describing key issues relating to a topic, particularly where such issues may be somewhat subjective.  They have been found to be effective for summarising and analysing, available literature and noting research gaps, especially in complex or emerging areas or on topics which may not be amenable to systematic review. While there has been much written on the topic of hope in general, the quality is variable, and the relevance to families of people with ABI is limited.

Participants
Literature scoping review

Key Features
Emerged from previous collaborative research

Identification of hope as a key ingredient for family engagement in brain injury rehabilitation

Scoping review aims to identify the definitions, barriers and facilitators, and roles of hope for families following acquired brain injury

Funding
Internally funded within the scope of individual researcher roles

Research/Evaluation Strategies
Adapted traditional scoping review methods to a more collaborative process with numerous researchers involved.

The highest quality and most clinically relevant studies will provide the greatest weight of evidence and information to the review. As such, the methodology incorporates a ranking, based on the assessed quality and relevant of each included article. Within this scoping review process, the available literature within a defined set will be identified through a bibliographic data base search, and screened against inclusion and exclusion criteria (determined by the research question). The literature will then be summarised and thematically analysed in a collaborative process to determine key issues.

Outputs and Outcomes
Understanding of hope as a complex construct integral to facilitating adjustment for families following brain injury

Publication in preparation

Publications
There are no publications to date for this project

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