Investigating the effectiveness of a vocational rehabilitation (VR) smartphone application (app) to support return to work (RTW) after Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

The treatment consists of access and unconditional use of a psychoeducational smartphone app to support the return to work (RTW) of individuals with TBI; the RTW after TBI App. The app contains a written chronological guide to the different stages of RTW following TBI and includes the following modules: Contemplating RTW, Preparing for RTW, At Work, At Home, and Support. These modules contain TBI specific, practical information to help plan for returning to work and information on common difficulties and barriers when returning to employment. The modules also include strategies and advice to manage common challenges. The final module is Videos/Stories and this module includes video interviews with individuals with TBI with living experience of RTW sharing their RTW experiences and offering advice and strategies to overcome limitations). The app uses written, audio and video modes, all written content also has an audio 'text to voice' function that can speak the written content aloud by clicking the audio button. The app has been co-designed with individual with TBI with living experience of returning to work and the information contained in the app is based on extensive research done by the TBI and rehabilitation expert researchers and clinicians who developed the app. The usage of each participant will be monitored (frequency and duration) will be monitored through app analytics. Participants will be provided with instructions on how to download the app to their phones (phone guidance is provided by the study co-ordinator for those who prefer to be guided through the download process or those who have difficulty with the instructions). They will then be given a short 15 minute presentation/guide to the app by their RTW/vocational provider and asked to use the app at their leisure - the amount of time participants will spend using the app will vary highly, but is anticipated to be up to 10 hours over a period of several months while participants are returning to work.