North American Pilot of TBIconneCT: A Social Communication Intervention via Telehealth for Individuals With Traumatic Brain Injury and Their Conversation Partners.

Purpose: The purpose of this pilot investigation was to identify formative feedback to guide the development of a North American version of the TBIconneCT program. A secondary purpose was to examine the feasibility of delivering the intervention by graduate students.

Method: Two cohorts of individuals with chronic brain injuries and their communication partners were recruited for a 10-week, modified TBIconneCT program delivered by graduate student clinicians via telehealth. Eight dyads were recruited for the first cohort, but only four dyads completed the investigation. Ten dyads participated in the second cohort, but only seven dyads completed the investigation. Along with pre and post self-reported measures of communication and participation, participants completed an interview about their experiences. Interviews were transcribed and qualitatively coded using reflexive thematic analysis.

Results: Participants from both cohorts improved in all pre- and postmeasures of communication and participation; however, gains were modest across the cohorts. Qualitative analyses were conducted separately by cohort, as results from the first cohort informed modifications that were implemented in the second cohort, primarily to address Australian English dialects. Across both contexts, overarching constructs included "participant perspectives regarding outcomes," "assessments of the effectiveness of specific portions of the program," and "suggestions for improvement."

Conclusions: The modified TBIconneCT program (North American pilot version) produced modest gains in measures of social communication, participation, and quality of life. Qualitative analyses provided insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the modified program, along with suggestions for refinement of the pilot version.