Community resource facilitation use by ethnic minority groups with traumatic brain injury in the Midwestern United States.

Abstract

Objective: This study surveyed the use of community-based resource facilitation (RF) services by ethnic minority survivors of traumatic brain injury (TBI) living in the Midwestern United States.

Method: Past records of RF use by survivors of TBI were reviewed. Demographics and patterns of RF use across 3 ethnic groups were documented. Reported barriers to community integration related to ethnic identity were identified using Chi-square test of independence.

Results: Ethnic minority survivors were less likely to use RF services than white survivors. Caucasian women and men utilized RF services at similar rates, whereas more African American men and Latina women used RF services. Caucasians received information about RF from a greater variety of sources than ethnic minority survivors. Ethnic identity was significantly associated with greater reported needs for TBI awareness.

Conclusions: A pattern of differential RF use by survivors from ethnic minority groups was noted, suggesting potential socio-cultural influences on help-seeking behavior after TBI. These factors should be considered to develop more accessible and equitable strategies of RF service referral and support. Future investigations of cultural perspectives of TBI and injury-related services may improve understanding of the likelihood and necessity of community-based RF service use by diverse populations.