An exploration into the role of occupational therapy in facilitating military service members to return to duty following mild traumatic brain injury.

Abstract

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a common injury sustained by military service members in combat. Whilst there is research surrounding the practice of occupational therapy in supporting service members to reintegrate into civilian life following mTBI, there is limited research on facilitating them to return to duty. Therefore, this proposal will explore the role of occupational therapy in facilitating military service members to return to duty following mild traumatic brain injury in United Kingdom. It will have a focus on the challenges they experience carrying out activities of daily living (ADLs) upon returning to duty. The literature review showed service members experience difficulties with returning to household tasks, education and relationships. Furthermore, re-establishing roles was a common struggle. Most of the literature was conducted out with the UK, creating a limitation surrounding current literature focused directly within the UK. The literature indicates that there is no evidence to suggest occupational therapy play a key role in the United Kingdom in this area of practice. Using narrative inquiry as a qualitative method of research, the research proposal will aim to hear the stories of military service members in the form of their own narrative. To gain a deep understanding of their experiences, one-to-one interviews will be carried out. It is hoped that by conducting this research, the results will identify whether there is a role for occupational therapy