Identifying the specific needs of adolescents after a mild traumatic brain injury: a service provider perspective.

Primary Objective: To identify the specific service needs of adolescents with mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) and those of their parents through the perspective of expert service providers as well as to compare it to the perspective of adolescents and their parents obtained in a prior study.

Study Design: Qualitative design including a focus group held with experts in the field of adolescent TBI and a validation survey of other professionals.

Methods And Procedures: Eight experts from a variety of disciplines participated in a focus group where important needs of adolescents were discussed. Results were then validated through a questionnaire to 33 professionals.

Main Outcomes And Results: Experts questioned through both methods are generally in agreement and acknowledge that adolescents are unique, but they often find them challenging. Like adolescents themselves, experts identify the need for information as the most important but are wary of offering too much detail and fear that this could encourage malingering of symptoms and problems. Service providers also recognize the importance of supporting adolescents and parents when returning to activities (school and physical activities).

Conclusions: The notion that teens represent a specific group of consumers of healthcare services is supported by findings in this study. These results provide important information to those involved in the structuring of service provision to adolescents following MTBI.