Poster(s)
Viewing mild traumatic brain injury in the British military through a public lens
Vicknaeshwari Marimuther
University of Surrey
The study was on public perceptions and understanding of
mild traumatic brain injury in the British military.
Objectives: To determine public perceptions of: (1) mild traumatic
brain injury (mTBI) amongst British service personnel; and (2) veteran’s access
to health care.
Methods: Potential participants for the study were recruited
online and offline. Adverts were placed on social networking sites such as
Facebook and Twitter. 124 participants aged 18 to 73 participated in the study. An
integration of social representations theory and critical realism formed the
theoretical framework for the study. Participants were presented with a
vignette on a service personnel’s experience with mild traumatic brain injury
followed by 12 questions on public perceptions and understanding of mild
traumatic brain injury and veteran health care. The responses were analysed
using thematic analysis and were based on the six phases outlined by Braun and
Clark (2006).
Results: Five themes were identified: different shades of
mTBI; perceived impact of mTBI on normal life; occupational hazard; entitlement
to care; and contradictory consequences of the need for military intervention
in Iraq and Afghanistan. Within each theme, two sub themes were discerned. The
ways in which participants anchored and objectified their perceptions within
the themes and subthemes provided insight into their understanding of: (a) the
mTBI phenomenon in the British military, and (b) the provision of veteran
health care.
Conclusion: In this study the integrated approach of
critical realism and social representations theory paved the way for the
diverse views of the participants. Past events (the military intervention in
Iraq and/or Afghanistan) were connected with today’s mTBI phenomenon in the
British military and pitched into proposed plans or plans that participants
thought should be in place for the future treatment/management of service
personnel with mTBI.
