What's New at IDI
 

• DARPA Expert Knowledge Series (Demo video)
• Mayo Clinic Brain Injury Survivor Experiment
• Georgetown Hospital Breast Cancer Experiment
• University of Miami Master Teacher Experiment

Brain Injury Survivor Series Tested at Mayo Clinic...

A Small Business Innovation Research grant (HD31797) from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has enabled IDI to produce a series of Virtual Conversations® interactive programs concerning traumatic brain injury (TBI).  The programs allow caregivers with a family member who has recently experienced a brain injury to conduct virtual dialogues with family caregivers who are experienced with TBI, as well as with high-functioning TBI survivors, and a respected neuropsychologist. 

 A field study using several of the programs is currently underway at the Mayo Clinic Traumatic Brain Injury Model System Center.  The study is being coordinated by Dr. James Malec, Director of the TBI Center and by Anne Moessner, RN, MSN, CRRN, Director of Research and Evaluation at the Center.  The objective of this experiment is to evaluate the educational impact of these programs on families who are unfamiliar with traumatic brain injury.  The researchers hypothesize that the virtual interviews will provide participants with knowledge, insights, and understanding about a variety of important aspects and implications of TBI. They also hypothesize that caregivers who are better informed will more readily accept their role and have more realistic expectations about brain injury rehabilitation.  

 Objective measures will be obtained to assess family caregivers’ 1) acceptance of this method of learning, 2) acquisition of knowledge gained through the virtual dialogues, and 3) changes in expectations.  Following a pre-test of TBI knowledge, participants will conduct three virtual dialogues: one with a family caregiver of their choice; a second with Dr. Malec, neuropsychologist and brain injury rehabilitation expert, and a third with Theresa Rankin, a TBI survivor.  Each virtual dialogue will last approximately 25 minutes. Then, the subject will complete a knowledge post-test (the same as the pre-test but with items in a different order) and questionnaires using Likert scales to determine their acceptance of the virtual dialogue method.  Approximately two months after their session, subjects will be contacted and asked to respond to several follow-up interview questions to determine what they retained from their virtual dialogue experience and whether they perceived the experience to be of benefit.    

 Approximately two months after this session, subjects will be contacted and asked to respond to several interview questions to determine what they retained from their virtual dialogue experience and whether they perceived the experience to be of benefit.