title: Breaking the news of traumatic brain injury and incapacities.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This paper presents research results regarding disclosure of traumatic brain injury (TBI) diagnosis and resulting deficits of a study aiming to investigate the experiences of individuals who had sustained a TBI, their families, the physicians and health professionals involved, from the critical care episodes and subsequent rehabilitation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals who had sustained a TBI (n = 8) and their families (n = 8) as well as with the health professionals (or service providers) (n = 22) and physicians (n = 9) who provided them care.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results revealed that the quality of the disclosure is strongly influenced by the medical uncertainty surrounding the TBI and the difficulties of healthcare professionals in dealing with the family's emotions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Delivering bad news is always difficult, but it is possible to make this harrowing experience easier and, in so doing, enhance patient and family resilience.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, Unversity of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. helene.lefebvre@umontreal.ca
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lefebvre
authors.forename: Marie Josée
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Levert
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014342:Truth Disclosure