Improving mental health outcomes following mild to moderate traumatic brain injury.

Participants will be randomised into one of three arms. Two arms will consist of a brief positive psychology intervention aimed at reducing mental illness symptoms after brain injury. The third arm represents treatment as usual (TAU). The intervention arms are discussed below. Arm 1: Positive Psychology Bibliotherapy Intervention Materials: The bibliotherapy intervention consists of a booklet containing information relevant to mild or moderate traumatic brain injury. The booklet provides information to the patient and their family on common symptoms that they may experience, and helpful strategies to help them cope. This booklet also provides health relevant information, should the patient experience any adverse symptoms in the weeks after injury. Evidence suggests that the possession of information regarding their illness can have a positive affect on a patients resilience and recovery after injury. Source: The bibliotherapy booklet titled, "Information about Mild Head Injury or Concussion" was originally developed by Professor Jennie Ponsford and colleagues in 2004., This booklet is for use with mild traumatic brain injuries, hence the booklet has been adapted for the purposes of this study to include information relevant to mild or moderate traumatic brain injuries. Information used for the adaptation of this booklet to include information for moderate traumatic brain injury was derived from the following sources: Headway Queensland Inc. 1995, "Changing Paths; The Adult Brain Injury Series" Information Bundle, Brian Injury Association Queensland, Milton, Queensland. Australia. Maas, Stocchetti & Bullock (2008). Moderate and severe traumatic brain injury in adults, Lancet Neurology, 7, 728-741. Perel, P., Arango, M., Clayton, T., Edwards, P., Komolafe, E., ... & Yutthakasemsunt, S. (2008). Predicting outcome after traumatic brain injury: practical prognostic models based on large cohort of international patients. Bmj, 336(7641), 425-9. Procedure: The booklet containing the bibliotherapy material will be provided to participants in a one-on-one initial assessment conducted by the trial coordinator following recruitment. The Clinical Research Coordinator will provide the hard-copy booklet to participants. After receiving the booklet from the trial coordinator, participants are simply required take to booklet home to read and refer to at least three times for a period of one week. The Clinical Research Coordinator holds a Bachelor of Psychology with Honours and is currently completing a Doctorate of Philosophy in Neuropsychology and Positive Health, with over six years experience and knowledge in the field of psychology. Supervision of the Clinical Research Coordinator is also provided by Dr Maria Hennessy, a clinical psychologist, clinical neuropsychologist and senior lecturer at James Cook University. Arm 2: Positive Psychology "What Went Well" Intervention Task Materials: The second intervention is a positive psychology task, termed "What Went Well". This task asks that as you end your day, you think about three things that went well and how they made you feel. This tasks is aimed at focusing an individuals attention toward the positive experiences of daily life, rather than the negative and evidence suggests that the use of this task significantly reduces the experience of depression and mood disorders. Source: The "What Went Well" exercise, is a task derived from an original study conducted by Seligman (2009). Please see reference below. The three questions contained in the task have been formatted to resemble similar font and spacing as seen in the Bibliotherapy intervention to ensure continuity among the materials given to participants and subsequently reduce potential error. Seligman, Ernst, Gillham, Reivich & Linkins (2009). Positive education: positive psychology classroom interventions, Oxford Review of Education, 35(3), 293-311. Procedure: The booklet containing the instructions for the "What Went Well" task will be provided to participants in a one-on-one initial assessment conducted by the trial coordinator. The trial coordinator will provide the hard-copy booklet to participants. After this has been received, participants are required to take the booklet home and begin the task on the first day following the initial assessment. Participants will be required to record three things what went well and how that made them feel. This is to be completed each day for a period of one week. All required materials and worksheet for these entries are provided to participants at the initial assessment. These are evidence-based interventions identified for their efficacy in reducing mental illlness symptoms in the general population and among mild traumatic brain injury patients. The adherence/fidelity of these interventions will be assessed based on their ability to reduce mental illness in mild to moderate traumatic brain injury patients.