Psychoeducation Interventions after Brain Injury – A Scoping Review

Background and aims: Psychoeducation is an intervention which involves structured disease specific information and support aimed at improving coping and understanding. Evidence has shown that this type of intervention improves outcome in mental illness and other medical illnesses. The aim of this scoping review is to identify the available evidence and key concepts relating to psychoeducational interventions following acute brain injury. Methods: This review was reported in line with the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews. Three electronic databases (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO) were searched for articles relating to psychoeducation interventions following acute brain injury. Search retrieved 5.492 articles (after removal of duplicates), titles, abstracts and full texts were screened, and data extracted for included studies. The quality of randomised control studies was assessed using JADAD scale. TIDieR scale was used to describe interventions. Results: Twenty-seven studies were included with a total of 1726 participants. Eighteen of the studies were randomised control studies, all with a JADAD score ≥ 2. Thirteen studies were in stroke, eight in traumatic brain injury and six in acquired brain injury. There was heterogeneity in study design, intervention and outcome measures used. Eleven randomised control studies showed significant improvements in fatigue, emotion, or quality of life. Conclusion: Psychoeducation may improve life after brain injury, however interventions to date have been varied and used a wide range of outcome measures. Standardisation would be needed to facilitate reproducibility.