A descriptive portrait of human assistance required by individuals with brain injury.
BACKGROUND
Human assistance is a counterweight to disabilities for people living with a traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, there is no clear description of the human assistance used by this population in relation with specific life habits (LH).


OBJECTIVE
(1) to describe the proportion of LH performed with human assistance; (2) to explore the characteristics of TBI persons with greater needs for human assistance; (3) to clarify the categories of LH for which persons with TBI need human assistance; and (4) to determine the relationship between the human helper and the person with TBI across different residential settings.


METHODS
One hundred and thirty-six individuals with moderate or severe TBI were interviewed using the LIFE-H.


RESULTS
Human assistance is used to perform one out of three LH. A greater need for human assistance was associated with the number of impairments, motor limitation to the upper limbs, hemiplegia and receiving public insurance. Human assistance was used more often to perform LH pertaining to social roles than those pertaining to daily living. Close relatives were the most frequent providers of human assistance regardless of the residential setting.


CONCLUSIONS
Given the importance of human assistance in TBI, it is essential to support human helpers during and after rehabilitation.
Lamontagne
Marie-Eve
ME
Centre de recherche du Centre Hospitalier Affilie Universitaire, site Enfant-Jesus, Axe de recherche en traumatologie-medecine d'urgence-soins intensifs, Quebec, Canada. marie-eve.lamontagne@umontreal.ca
Ouellet
Marie-Christine
MC
Simard
Jean-Francois
JF
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020380:Needs Assessment; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology