A mobile phone as a memory aid for individuals with traumatic brain injury: a preliminary investigation.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE

To investigate the use of a 'reminders' function on a mobile phone as a compensatory memory aid for five individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

RESEARCH DESIGN

A series of five single case ABAB reversal design.

METHODS AND PROCEDURE

A mobile phone was given to each participant during two intervention phases. Target behaviours were recorded for the length of the study.

EXPERIMENTAL INTERVENTION

The phone was programmed to prompt a number of identified target behaviours.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

For two participants, there was an increase in the target behaviours achieved when the phone was used, with percentages rising from 51% to 95% for Participant 1 (P1) and 58% to 88% for Participant 5 (P5). The percentage of target behaviours achieved did not return to initial baseline levels when the phone was removed, indicating that the intervention may have facilitated P1 and, in particular, P5 in the learning of their routines. The participants who did not benefit from the mobile phone differed from P1 and P5 as they fell in the category of 'severe memory impairment' on the RBMT, were significantly impaired on an assessment of executive functioning (Tower Test) and required 24-hour care.

CONCLUSIONS

The preliminary investigation with five participants suggests that this system may be of best use with individuals who do not require 24-hour care and do not experience severe memory and executive functioning difficulties. However, further research with a larger sample is highly recommended.