Goal: AIR proposes a five-year project to co-develop the “TBI&Work Toolkit,” to support the employment of people with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Co-developers include individuals with TBI; TBI technical experts; and representatives from vocational rehabilitation agencies, home- and community-based service providers, large TBI organizations, medical rehabilitation facilities, and human resource professionals. This proposed project is in the employment outcomes domain and the target audience is people with TBI.
Objectives and overall approach: The project team will assess what employment-related resources people with TBI need via survey and interviews. Results from the needs assessments will guide product development, dissemination, utilization, and evaluation activities. AIR will collaborate with partners to apply integrated knowledge translation (IKT) strategies combined with trauma- and resiliency-informed principles to translate and adapt existing TBI resources developed under the NIDILRR-funded Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center.
Products: The resulting TBI&Work Toolkit will include evidence-based, trauma- and resilience-informed, user-friendly, culturally responsive, and easily accessible resources. Proposed resource modes include infocomics (short stories illustrated with pictures, like comic strips, which both inform and entertain); videos; infographics (complex information presented via images and short text); podcasts; and journey map templates, which identify touch points in the workplace, pain points, and supports needed.
Outcomes: As a primary utilization strategy, AIR applies IKT to engage influencers, ambassadors, and champions in conjunction with marketing strategies such as co-branding and customized resources for interested organizations serving the intended audiences. Through use of the TBI&Work Toolkit, we aim to increase awareness, knowledge, capacity of TBI management, self-efficacy, and self-advocacy in the workplace, leading to improved long-term employment outcomes for people with TBI.