Purpose: Social isolation and reduced social participation are common after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Developing interventions that aim to increase social participation through recreation or leisure activities continues to be challenging. This scoping review was conducted to provide an overview of interventions used to increase social participation through in-person recreation or leisure activity for adults with moderate to severe TBI living in the community.
Methods: Using the Arksey and O'Malley framework, a scoping review of the literature published from 2005 to 2023 was conducted across four databases: Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Scopus. Quality appraisals were conducted for included studies.
Results: Following the removal of duplicates, 10,056 studies were screened and 52 were retained for full-text screening. Seven papers were included in the final review. Studies varied with respect to the type of intervention and program outcomes. The interpretation was impeded by study quality, with only two studies providing higher levels of evidence. Barriers and facilitators to successful program outcomes were identified.
Conclusions: Few studies with interventions focused on increasing social participation in leisure or recreation activity were identified. Further research incorporating mixed methods and longitudinal design to evaluate effectiveness over time is needed to build the evidence base for increasing social participation through leisure activity.
Keywords: Traumatic brain injury; intervention; leisure; outcome; recreation; social participation.
There is evidence to support participating in recreation and leisure activities that involve interactions with others can increase social participation outcomes for adults with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury.Participating in leisure-based interventions not only provides opportunities for social connection but may also impact positively on personal wellbeing, enjoyment, and confidence.Understanding the range of personal, practical, support, and activity factors that can facilitate or obstruct participation in leisure or recreational activity programs at an individual level may improve social participation outcomes.Measuring the impact of an intervention for social participation should include post-intervention changes across outcome domains and over time.