Peer support in rehabilitation for acquired brain injury: what is the client's need?

Reade, centre for rehabilitation, provides peer support for clients with amputation, spinal cord injury and acquired brain injury. Peer support is given by a person with similar characteristics and a comparable experience, who is able to use and share his/her experience professionaly in order to support the client in the rehabilitation process. Reade is the first rehabilitation centre in the Nederlands to employ peer counselors in order to improve the quality of care and to increase the clients perspective. Although peer counselors are increasingly involved in healthcare, an overview of the evidence from the field for peer support in rehabilitation is lacking.
Objective: The primary aim of this study is to get a better understanding of the determinants related to the clients need for peer support and determinants related to meaningful contact between the client and the peer counselor. Also a systematic review of the literature will be executed to provide an overview of the current available evidence concerning peer support in rehabilitation for amputation, brain injury and spinal cord injury.
Study design: observational study and systematic literature review
Study population: 80 patients with acquired brain injury, admitted for inpatient rehabilitation in Reade, centre for rehabilitation and rheumatology.
Primary outcomes: need for peer support at admission and match (meaningful contact) between patient and peer counselor at discharge.
Secondary outcomes: questionnaire, Barthel index, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Goodglass Aphasia Severity Rating Scale. In addition peer counselor will register subject(s) and lenght of each conversation between patient en peer counselor. Peer counselors are not informed which patients take part in the study.

Peer support is increasingly introduced and used in healthcare. However, there is little evidence for peer support in rehabilitation and understanding of the client's need.

First week of admission, Barthel index, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Goodglass Aphasia Severity Rating Scale at admission, registration of subject of conversation during full stay inpatient rehabilitation, week of discharge or first week after discharge

Questionaire in first week of admission, registration of contact with peer counselors, questionaire in week of discharge