Melissa Kendall

• Research Officer at Princess Alexandra Hospital (Queensland Health)

Purpose: The transition from hospital to the community following spinal cord injury (SCI) is a significant and challenging time. Rehabilitation aims to equip individuals with the skills and resources required to navigate this transition. This study explored the rehabilitation priorities of people with SCI, expectations for rehabilitation supports...

Purpose: Both demand and need for assistive technology (AT) are growing worldwide. However, ensuring an optimal fit between the person and AT is complex. With health professionals often being the "gatekeeper" to AT, it is imperative to understand their experiences of AT. This study was positioned within a sociotechnical space known as "HabITec", w...

Background: The ability to self-advocate or have a say in one's care is integral to personalised care after acquired brain injury (ABI). This study aimed to understand what constitutes self-advocacy and associated barriers and facilitators throughout hospital transitions and into the community. Method: Qualitative methodology was employed with semi...

Background The ability to self‐advocate or have a say in one's care is integral to personalised care after acquired brain injury (ABI). This study aimed to understand what constitutes self‐advocacy and associated barriers and facilitators throughout hospital transitions and into the community. Method Qualitative methodology was employed with semis...

Due to their complex and fluctuating needs requiring multiple transitions of care through different services and systems, the early postdischarge period is one of the vulnerabilities for people with acquired neurological disability. This study aimed to (1) map and examine system-level care transitions, including change in transition patterns and se...

Purpose: To understand and combat the challenges in taking up and implementing technology in rehabilitation settings, the HabITec Lab, a clinical service focused on technology, was piloted for 12-months within a tertiary hospital. This article reports on its preliminary impacts as a clinical service and on clients, including the types of assistive...

Background: Return to work (RTW) is often viewed as an important outcome following acquired brain injury (ABI) and spinal cord injury (SCI), although not all individuals have vocational goals and many experience barriers to RTW. Objective: This study investigated the relationship between RTW and psychosocial functioning at 12-months post-dischar...

Objectives This study aimed to conduct a learning and development needs analysis of quality improvement partnership capabilities of staff and consumers on partnership committees at an Australian metropolitan hospital and health service. Objectives were to compare consumer and staff self-rated capability importance, performance, and learning needs;...

Purpose: This study aimed to compare stigma levels after acquired brain injury (ABI) and spinal cord injury (SCI) during the first 12-months post-discharge and investigate relationships between stigma, psychological distress and community integration. Methods: 110 adults with ABI (55%) or SCI (45%) were recruited from brain and spinal cord injur...

As part of a larger study examining the perceived impacts of health system stress in Queensland, Australia, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this study explored the experiences and perspectives of a sample of people with spinal cord injury (SCI) and critical stakeholders to identify secondary complications, access concerns, and potential solutions...

Plain Language summary Partnering with people who use health services, their families, and the community (consumers) to do research is ethically the right thing to do and leads to better research. Unfortunately, it often does not happen, and researchers are not sure how to do it. To change this, we want researchers to partner with consumers early i...

Purpose To explore how vocational rehabilitation (VR) is currently delivered for individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) across multiple stakeholder groups and identify areas for improvement in service delivery using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Methods Seven focus groups were conducted with rehabilitation cl...

Background The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) offers opportunity against a historical background of underfunded and fragmented services for people with disability. For people with acquired brain injury (ABI), concerns have been raised about how they access NDIS individualised funded supports. The aim of this research was to explore how...

This study described access potential in South-East Queensland, to healthcare services commonly used by people with acquired disability; and investigated the association between service proximity and perceived service obstacles. First, we described accessibility by conducting a spatial analysis to create maps of potential accessibility to health se...

Background Prospective memory (PM) failure can limit independence and productivity following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Compensatory strategy use may ameliorate the effect of PM impairment on daily life but requires sufficient self-awareness. Metacognitive skills training (MST) can facilitate self-awareness and strategy use and may improve the e...

Introduction: Consumer and community involvement (CCI) encompasses the range of consumer engagement activities across the research cycle. Research advisory groups (RAGs) are a common method of CCI that may empower the consumer voice in research. However, there is limited evaluation of RAGs to guide occupational therapists considering this as a CCI...

Study design: Longitudinal cohort study. Objectives: To investigate the longitudinal effects of time since injury and age at injury on outcomes of quality of life, physical function, secondary conditions and participation, in people with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). Setting: Community resident people with spinal cord injury in Queenslan...

Background Greater understanding of the influences on participation in life after spinal cord injury (SCI) can inform rehabilitation theory and practice. Careful qualitative inquiry can reveal subjective meanings associated with the relevant experiences, strategies, and perceptions of those with lived experience of SCI. A search of literature, foll...

Background The capability of consumers and staff may be critical for authentic and effective partnerships in healthcare quality improvement (QI). Capability frameworks describe core knowledge, skills, values, attitudes, and behaviours and guide learning and development at individual and organizational levels. Objective To refine a capability frame...

Purpose Little is known about obstacles to health and rehabilitation services experienced by people with acquired brain injury (ABI) over time and what impact these have on recovery. This study utilised the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health model to better understand the impact of service obstacles. The aims were:...

Background Internationally, patient and public involvement (PPI) is core policy for health service quality improvement (QI). However, authentic QI partnerships are not commonplace. A lack of patient and staff capability to deliver successful partnerships may be a barrier to meaningful QI collaboration. Objectives The research questions for this sc...

Purpose To explore work outcomes, vocational services, barriers and facilitators for returning to work in individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) in Queensland, Australia and to identify areas for improvement. Design and methods Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals with ABI (stroke, traumatic brain injury, tumour). I...

ABSTRACT Glioma is a common type of brain tumour that is associated with neurocognitive and psychosocial impairments. This study primarily aimed to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of a videoconferencing format of the Making Sense of Brain Tumour (Tele-MAST) programme. Recruited from a multidisciplinary brain tumour clinic, participant...

Introduction: Consumer engagement in research is becoming an ethical, political, and moral imperative. The aim of this scoping review was to provide a snapshot of the current status of the emerging area of consumer engagement in occupational therapy health-related research, as published in the Australian Occupational Therapy Journal. Methods: A...

Purpose: To explore face validity of a preliminary conceptual framework for rehabilitation (the HEAR Framework), which is grounded in the narratives of people with spinal cord injury. Methods: Using a quantitative online survey, experienced spinal cord injury rehabilitation practitioners were asked to compare the overall Framework, and its three co...

Objectives There is limited research on the use of telerehabilitation platforms in service delivery for people with acquired brain injury (ABI), especially technologies that support delivery of services into the home. This qualitative study aimed to explore the perspectives of rehabilitation coordinators, individuals with ABI, and family caregivers...

Aims: Culturally appropriate community education about brain injury prevention and supporting people with brain injury and their families is needed in Australian Indigenous communities. Narrative therapy offers a useful method in rehabilitation that may be particularly appropriate for Indigenous people. This paper aims to explore and describe the i...

Background: Errorless learning (ELL) and error-based learning (EBL) are commonly used approaches to rehabilitation for people with traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, it is unknown whether making errors is beneficial in the learning process to promote skills generalization after severe TBI. Objective: To compare the efficacy of ELL and EBL fo...

Purpose: To explore the perceived determinants of participation in life after spinal cord injury and incorporate these into a framework for the promotion of participation suitable for use by rehabilitation professionals. Method: Four people with spinal cord injury and one health service researcher engaged in a process of sharing narratives of li...

Background Impairment of prospective memory (PM) is common following traumatic brain injury (TBI) and negatively impacts on independent living. Compensatory approaches to PM rehabilitation have been found to minimize the impact of PM impairment in adults with TBI; however, poor self-awareness after TBI poses a major barrier to the generalization of...

Objective This study aimed to identify clinical scenarios that might prompt nurses to seek advice from a spinal cord injury wound care nurse consultant for pressure injury management. In addition, some attributes of nurses were examined for associations with intention to seek the help of a consultant. Design Exploratory quantitative survey. Setting...

Study design: Sequential mixed method design. Objectives: Determine factors associated with community participation for individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Setting: Queensland, Australia. Methods: Phase I consisted of a quantitative telephone survey of 270 people who had sustained a SCI within the past 50 years. To verify and interpre...

The World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health identifies environmental and personal factors as contextually relevant to functioning following disability. Goal setting is also central to rehabilitation practice and enhances functioning. No current assessment exists that recognizes the interaction...

Purpose: A randomized controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the impact of Professional Boundaries for Health Professionals (PBHP) training program on the knowledge, comfort, experience, and ethical decision-making of multidisciplinary practitioners facing client-practitioner boundary dilemmas. Methods: In all, 36 rehabilitation practitioner...

Aims: To describe and evaluate the multidisciplinary goal attainment measure (MGAM), a method for measuring goal attainment within a community-based multidisciplinary rehabilitation setting and to explore the relationships between the multidisciplinary goal attainment measure and other standardized outcome measures. Methods: De-identified data was...

Interpersonal interactions and relationships can influence an individual’s perceptions of health and quality of life in the presence of disability. In the case of people with spinal cord injury (SCI), positive interpersonal interactions and relationships have been shown to contribute to resilience and adaptability. Understanding factors which facil...

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate a new service role in mental health services, namely, the senior dual disability coordinator role (SDDC) for its impact on the perceived self-efficacy of mental health clinicians in managing clients with dual disability (mental illness and acquired brain injury and/or intellectual disability) and their job sat...

Background: Family member engagement is increasingly recognised as an influential factor in the rehabilitation continuum following Acquired Brain Injury, including the inpatient setting and longer-term community integration phases. Objective: To explore the experiences of patients and family members about their involvement in brain injury rehabi...

Parenting following acquired brain injury (ABI) has received little empirical or clinical investigation. The current study aimed to explore the challenges facing fathers following ABI and identify their needs for support. Interviews were conducted with three men with ABI, two partners and three rehabilitation coordinators. Five themes emerged from...

Poor skills generalization poses a major barrier to successful outcomes of rehabilitation after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Error-based learning (EBL) is a relatively new intervention approach that aims to promote skills generalization by teaching people internal self-regulation skills, or how to anticipate, monitor and correct their own errors....

Purpose: To examine the effectiveness of a targeted training approach to foster and support a peer-professional workforce in the delivery of a community rehabilitation program for adults with acquired brain injury (ABI) and their families. Method: A prospective longitudinal design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a targeted two-day trai...

Peer group supervision, particularly in multidisciplinary formats, presents a potential means of providing professional support, and specifically clinical supervision, for allied health professionals. Debate exists regarding the extent to which the activities of these groups should be formalized. Results drawn from an evaluation of a large-scale pe...

Purpose: This study aimed to identify, describe and classify the transitional rehabilitation goals of people with spinal cord injury (SCI) and map these goals to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Method: The five most important rehabilitation goals as rated by clients were extracted from records for 22...

People with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI), although proportionally fewer in number, are known to be high users of primary health care services; however, details of their visits to GPs are unclear. This study presents information about GP utilisation patterns of 193 people with SCI over a 5-year period. Results demonstrate substantially greater...

Allied health professionals (AHPs) acting as consultants to other professionals and workers is an important emerging issue. It has received little research attention, despite this role being central to many AHP job descriptions, particularly senior positions. This exploratory qualitative study, conducted with AHPs and other key informants, examined...

Abstract Aim: This descriptive article considers aspects of healthcare complexity and clinical education through the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). The relevance of the ICF for informing healthcare for people with complex health needs is considered and implications for clinical...

In this groundbreaking book, experts show what a difference support systems—family, friends, community and social programs—can make towards the recovery of the millions of people who suffer a traumatic brain injury each year. Health and Healing after Traumatic Brain Injury: Understanding the Power of Family, Friends, Community, and Other Support Sy...

In this groundbreaking book, experts show what a difference support systems—family, friends, community and social programs—can make towards the recovery of the millions of people who suffer a traumatic brain injury each year. Health and Healing after Traumatic Brain Injury: Understanding the Power of Family, Friends, Community, and Other Support Sy...

To track changes in quality of life and function for people with spinal cord injury (SCI) along the lifespan. A wave panel design in which data were collected annually over 5 years across 6 strata that represented different periods since injury. Telephone interviews with participants in their home environment. People (n=270) who had sustained a tra...

This article reports on the Boundaries in Practice (BIP) Scale developed to measure knowledge, comfort, ethical decision making, and experience. Few instruments used in studies conducted on professional/ client boundaries have been validated. The BIP demonstrated sound face, content and construct validity, and adequate internal consistency reliabil...

Background: The Skills To Enable People and CommunitieS (STEPS) Program is a new information, support and skills program that aims to develop sustainable networks of support for individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) and their families in communities throughout Queensland, Australia. The program adopts a self-management approach and is delive...

Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) developed in response to delivery of rehabilitation services to people with disability in developing countries, and appears appropriate to address rehabilitation needs of rural and remote populations, including Australian Aboriginal People with acquired brain injury (ABI). This article will describe participator...

Effective measurement and optimization of re-entry into the community after injury depends on a degree of understanding of how those injured persons actually perceive their community. In light of the limited research about foundational concepts regarding community integration after spinal cord injury, this study investigated how a large number of a...

Discipline specific and multidisciplinary training programs have been developed to provide practitioners working in health and disability fields with various combinations of knowledge, skills, attitudes and practitioner comfort important for such discussions. There is little, however, which demonstrates the long term effectiveness of such training...

The early onset of depression following traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with poorer psychosocial outcomes; however, the direction of this relationship is unclear. This study investigated the relationship between progress in resuming preinjury lifestyle (transition events), change in perceived functioning and level of depressive symptoms...

Objective: To explore the availability and perceived adequacy of service support for younger people with ABI and their families in Queensland during the transition phase from the perspective of service providers. Research Design: A qualitative research design utilising survey-based open-ended questioning. Methods and Procedures: Participants were s...

Outcome measurement is an integral part of delivering rehabilitation services in community settings. However, measurement is of little value if instruments are chosen ad hoc and are not administered consistently. The purpose of this study was to develop and test a participatory process of outcome measure selection which would engender consistent us...

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effects of metacognitive skills training (MST) and behavioural practice on error self-regulation during a naturalistic task after traumatic brain injury (TBI). A single-case study design was used and three participants (two males, one female) aged 26-43 years with severe TBI were included in the study....

Professional boundaries between practitioners and clients are essential to the delivery of ethical and professional health services yet often prove difficult to address. A research agenda was initiated comprising a literature review, needs assessment, the development, implementation and evaluation of a Professional Boundaries for Health Practitione...

Boundary violations that threaten professional-client relationships are rarely discussed at the coalface. There is an assumption that healthcare practitioners have the skills necessary to manage professional boundary dilemmas with clients. The issue, if addressed, is usually confined to discipline specific education and training. A one-day Professi...

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Professional boundaries between practitioners and clients are essential to the delivery of ethical and professional health services yet often prove difficult to address. A research agenda was initiated comprising a literature review, needs assessment, the development, implementation and evaluation of a Professional Boundaries for Health Practitione...

Boundary violations that threaten professional-client relationships are rarely discussed at the coalface. There is an assumption that healthcare practitioners have the skills necessary to manage professional boundary dilemmas with clients. The issue, if addressed, is usually confined to discipline specific education and training. A one-day Professi...

Prospective cross-sectional survey. To compare quality of life (QOL) for people with spinal cord injury (SCI) and their able-bodied peers and to investigate the relationship between QOL and disability (impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions) across the lifespan, for people with SCI. A community outreach service for people...

To explore the transition experiences from hospital to home of a purposive sample of individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI). Phenomenological, qualitative design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 individuals with ABI (mean time since discharge = 15.2 months) and 11 family caregivers. Each interview was recorded, transcribed v...

To identify the factors influencing participation and outline the benefits and challenges of providing transitional rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury (SCI) from rural and regional locations. Grounded Theory analysis of service records and policy documents. One transitional rehabilitation service for people with SCI. Service records...

Objective: To examine the equivalence reliability and test-retest reliability of the Clinical Outcome Variables Scale (COVS) when administered via telephone (TCOVS) to people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Design: Equivalence (telephone administration vs in-person) and test-retest reliability study. Setting: Assessments conducted in participan...

To examine perceptions of ICU transfer held by patients and their family members, focusing specifically on those aspects of transfer perceived as difficult and those perceived as helpful. Descriptive qualitative case study design. General ICU of a large regional Australian teaching hospital. A total of 7 patients and 6 family members were purposefu...

To use a taxonomy of goal content, developed in community-based brain injury rehabilitation to examine and compare the content of goals set within two different service settings; and to further examine the potential of the taxonomy to be a reliable and comprehensive framework for classifying goals. Qualitative analysis and categorization of 1492 go...

To provide a description of ward nurses perceptions of the intensive care unit liaison nurse role. Critical care outreach services have become commonplace over recent years. In Australia, the intensive care unit liaison nurse, developed at a local level by healthcare providers, has emerged as a way of improving the continuity of care offered to thi...

While there is evidence to support consideration of client sexuality needs in the provision of rehabilitation services to people with spinal cord injury (SCI), the interdisciplinary team rarely receives training in this area. The current study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a consumer-driven sexuality training program in improving staff know...

To investigate perceptions of functional change over time held by individuals with long duration spinal cord injury (SCI) living in Queensland, Australia. A retrospective telephone questionnaire was administered to 84 individuals who had sustained a SCI more than 20 years previously and were older than 15 at the time of injury. Motor subset scores...

Objective: To determine those factors perceived to change or threaten function and quality of life among individuals with long duration spinal cord injury. Design: Retrospective self-report using telephone-administered questionnaire. Setting: Queensland, Australia. Subjects: Eighty-four community-resident persons with spinal cord injury. Main outco...

This study compared the psychometric properties of two community integration measures used with people with acquired brain injury (ABI) in the community. Questionnaires were mailed-out to people with ABI and nominated proxies. Responses were obtained from 96 people with ABI and 121 proxies on the Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ) and the Sy...

Historically, the management of sexuality issues in spinal cord injury rehabilitation has received scant attention as a staff training issue. This has occurred despite evidence in the literature identifying significant barriers to the provision of sexuality rehabilitation. This paper reports on a needs assessment conducted within an Australian spin...

To review the current international rehabilitation and healthcare climate and describe a new model of service delivery aimed at enhancing the continuity of care for people with spinal cord injury (SCI). An extensive literature review was undertaken and a new model of service delivery conceptualized and implemented in the Australian context of SCI r...

Historically, the management of sexuality issues in spinal cord injury rehabilitation has received scant attention as a staff training issue. This has occurred despite evidence in the literature identifying significant barriers to the provision of sexuality rehabilitation. This paper reports on a needs assessment conducted within an Australian spin...

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