Social isolation is an acute problem for those who are survivors of a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Many of these individuals are left with long-lasting alterations in social, behavioral, physical, and cognitive functions. A typical TBI survivor is a young to mid-life adult, living either in government-assisted housing, with their family, or in rarer cases in their own house or apartment. Survivors are universally afflicted with social isolation. This project focuses on one aspect of social isolation, that of community access. Many TBI survivors are unable to do independent travel to go to the store, to see a doctor, to attend a community social event. Not only do they find it impossible to drive within the community, they also have problems using the bus system or even traveling by foot to a destination. It is clear that high technology, in the form of wearable navigation devices, has potential to help. What is missing are (1) solid data on the actual needs of TBI survivors in accessing their community, (2) a means to assess the skills and impairments of individual survivors in terms of using navigation devices, (3) a process that produces both a training plan and a "prescription" that matches a survivor with a custom device. This proposal takes on each of these questions. Its results will allow the assistive technology industry to (a) build devices that are useful to the TBI population, and (b) do the matching that is necessary to get the right device into the hands of an individual.
Broader Impacts: Prevalence estimates range from 2.5 to 6.5 million individuals living with the consequences of TBI, with that number growing with advances in medical procedures at the scene of the accident, in emergency medical care, and in neurosurgery. The incidence rates for the most severe traumatic brain injuries are higher than those for spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, and muscular dystrophy combined.
