Objective: To perform a pilot study to evaluate whether a novel metacognitive, goal-based intervention improved and maintained the social communication skills of adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Method: Eight community-dwelling participants with TBI completed three study phases: (1) baseline, (2) eight-week intervention targeting social communication impairments and (3) follow-up. Participants completed the Profile of Pragmatic Impairment in Communication (PPIC), LaTrobe Communication Questionnaire (LCQ) and Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) at the commencement of baseline phase, pre- and post-intervention and completion of the follow-up phase. During the intervention programme phase, participants attended two 1-hour therapy sessions (one individual; one group) per week focusing on remediating impaired social communication skills using metacognitive strategy intervention and goal-based therapy.
Results: Variable changes in PPIC feature-summary scores were observed post-intervention. A non-significant improvement in LCQ scores was also observed. There was a significant increase in GAS goal T-scores following the intervention, with six of the eight participants achieving or exceeding their expected level of performance on all goals.
Conclusion: A goal-driven, metacognitive approach to intervention may assist individuals with TBI to achieve their personal social communication goals, with benefits reported by participants and observable during conversations. Further research is required.
Keywords: Traumatic brain injury; cognition; goal; metacognition; metacognitive strategy intervention; pragmatics; social communication.