Social Participation and Navigation (SPAN): Description and usability of app-based coaching intervention for adolescents with TBI.
Megan E Narad, Gary Bedell, Jessica A King and 4 others
PMID 28762859WHAT IT FOUND
Four adolescents with brain injury used an app, a website, and weekly coaching for four weeks.
Feedback was positive and two achieved social participation goals. Measured social and behavior scores did not show a clear change.
Key findings
01Feedback from adolescents, parents, and coaches was largely positive, and they reported being mostly satisfied with the overall program and the coaching.
02All four participants made progress toward their goals by completing planned steps, and two completed all steps and achieved their goals.
03Pre-post standardized social and behavior scores did not differ significantly (all p's > .05), although the paper reported effect-size estimates on the adolescent self-report (social competence d = .56, social problems d = .91, total problems d = 1.16) and negligible parent-report changes.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Only four adolescents were studied, so the results cannot show that SPAN works for most adolescents with TBI. The standardized social and behavior scores did not change significantly, so the reported effect sizes are preliminary only. The program was tested for four weeks, which may have been too short for participants to use the Key Topics and Brief Tips. Most participants had minimal lasting impairments, and the one participant with significant impairments struggled more with the program. Coaches were graduate students with TBI knowledge, not the undergraduate coaches the program was designed to use. Adolescent self-report and parent report did not match, so change may depend on whose perspective is measured. All four participants were white adolescents, so usability for other groups is unknown.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflicts of interest and said they alone were responsible for the content and writing.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the positive feedback, goal completion, or effect-size estimates as proof that SPAN improves social participation or behavior. The trial had only four adolescents, and the standardized pre-post tests were not significant.