This study will fill important knowledge gaps in the availability of best practices that use innovative methods to integrate the cognitive and vocational needs of students with TBI who will be transitioning from 2- and 4-year postsecondary education to employment. Best practices exist from the assistive technology (AT) field to help people compensate for cognitive impairments, and from the vocational rehabilitation (VR) field to enhance employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. However, these practices have not been integrated to provide needed supports and services to improve the employment outcomes of students with TBI. The study's goal is to expand the availability of innovative practices by testing the efficacy of a technology-driven, long-term, and resource-rich individualized support program that merges assistive technology for cognition and vocational rehabilitation practices. The end products will include technology application guidelines, training and procedural manuals, and resource information that rehabilitation professionals and students with TBI can utilize to enhance technology and mentoring proficiency, academic success, self-determination, and long-term career success for students with TBI.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
90
Cognitive Support Technology (CST) products and strategies are used to help people with disabilities compensate for or accommodate cognitive limitations (including those related to interpersonal communication and social cognition) that present difficulties for them in the performance of desired social roles, especially education and employment. CSTs may be mainstream everyday technologies such as tablet computers or they may be specialized devices designed for specific goals such as step-by-step instruction in the performance of a particular task (Scherer, 2012).
Kent State University
Kent, Ohio, United States
RECRUITINGChange in Grade Point Average (GPA)
Participant GPA
Time frame: Baseline (enrollment in study) and 1 year (study completion)
Change in Post-Secondary Enrollment Status
% of participants still enrolled in a postsecondary program
Time frame: Baseline (enrollment in study) and 1 year (study completion)
Change in Satisfaction with transportation access
Measured using single item 5-point Likert question on questionnaire
Time frame: Baseline (enrollment in study) and 1 year (study completion)
Change in Satisfaction with Social Support
Measured using single item 5-point Likert question on questionnaire
Time frame: Baseline (enrollment in study) and 1 year (study completion)
Change in Current Employment Status
Three items on questionnaire including dichotomous employment question (e.g., are you employed?), if yes, number of hours employed and weekly earnings.
Time frame: Baseline (enrollment in study) and 1 year (study completion)
Change in % of Participants Receiving Disability Benefits
Whether participants receive SSDI and/or SSI benefits or not
Time frame: Baseline (enrollment in study) and 1 year (study completion)
Change in Overall health status
Measured using RAND 36-item Health Survey 1.0 All items are scored so that a high score defines a more favorable health state. In addition, each item is scored on a 0 to 100 range so that the lowest and highest possible scores are 0 and 100, respectively.
Time frame: Baseline (enrollment in study) and 1 year (study completion)
Change in Depression Symptoms
Measured using Beck Depression Inventory- II (BDI-II) The BDI-II is scored by summing the ratings for the 21 items. Each item is rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 to 3. The maximum total score is 63. A higher score indicates a higher level of depressive symptomology.
Time frame: Baseline (enrollment in study) and 1 year (study completion)
Change in Acceptance of disability
Measured using the Acceptance of Disability Scale- Short Form There are 50 self-report items. Each item, provides a single score that ranges from 1 (low acceptance of disability) to 6 (high acceptance of disability). An overall acceptance of disability score is derived by summing all items, with 300 as the highest possible score. Low acceptance scores fall below 175, whereas high acceptance scores range from 176 to 300
Time frame: Baseline (enrollment in study) and 1 year (study completion)
Change in Perceived Stress
Measured using the Perceived Stress Scale- 10. PSS-10 scores are obtained by reversing the scores on the four positive items, e.g., 0=4, 1=3, 2=2, etc. and then summing across all 10 items. Items 4,5, 7, and 8 are the positively stated items. The highest score possible is 40 while the lowest score possible is 0. Higher score indicates higher levels of perceived stress.
Time frame: Baseline (enrollment in study) and 1 year (study completion)
Change in Quality of Life (QoL)
Measured using the Quality of Life Scale There are 16 items scored on a seven-point Likert scale. The seven responses are "delighted" (7), "pleased" (6), "mostly satisfied" (5),"mixed" (4), "mostly dissatisfied" (3), "unhappy" (2),"terrible" (1).The QOLS is scored by adding up the score on each item to yield a total score for the instrument. Scores can range from 16 to 112 with higher scores representing a higher reported quality of life.
Time frame: Baseline (enrollment in study) and 1 year (study completion)
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