Interprofessional Approaches to the Treatment of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Literature Review and Conceptual Framework Informed by 94 Professional Interviews.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) presents with persistent, heterogeneous symptoms requiring multifaceted care. Although interdisciplinary rehabilitation is increasingly recommended, implementation remains inconsistent. This study aimed to synthesize existing literature and clinician perspectives to construct a practice-informed conceptual framework for interprofessional mTBI rehabilitation.

METHODS

Structured interviews were conducted with 94 clinicians-including neurologists, neuropsychologists, optometrists, occupational and physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, neurosurgeons, and case managers-across academic, private, and community settings in the United States. Interviews followed a semi-structured format adapted for the NIH I-Corps program and were analyzed thematically alongside existing rehabilitation literature.

RESULTS

Clinicians expressed strong consensus on the value of function-oriented, patient-centered care. Key themes included the prevalence of persistent cognitive and visual symptoms, emphasis on real-world goal setting, and barriers such as fragmented communication, reimbursement restrictions, and referral delays. Disciplinary differences were noted in perceptions of symptom persistence and professional roles. Rehabilitation technologies were inconsistently adopted due to financial, training, and interoperability barriers. Equity issues included geographic and insurance-based disparities. A four-domain conceptual framework emerged: discipline-specific expertise, coordinated training, technological integration, and care infrastructure, all shaped by systemic limitations.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite widespread clinician endorsement of interprofessional mTBI care, structural barriers hinder consistent implementation. Targeted reforms-such as embedding interdisciplinary models in clinical education, expanding access to integrated technology, and improving reimbursement mechanisms-may enhance care delivery. The resulting framework provides a foundation for scalable, patient-centered rehabilitation models in diverse settings.