Healing is a community: an exploratory study of #TraumaticBrainInjury content on Instagram.

Abstract

Purpose: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) can result in reduced social participation due to changes in cognition and communication. This study explored Instagram #TraumaticBrainInjury posts to determine how the platform was being used by people with brain injury and how TBI was discussed.

Materials and methods: Exploratory, qualitatively-driven, mixed-methods research design. Content analysis was conducted on the top 100 #TraumaticBrainInjury posts that met the study criteria. From each category identified in content analysis, two-three posts were further analysed using visual data analysis, then reflexive thematic analysis was used on this data to gain deeper understanding.

Results: Content analysis generated four categories: Promotional, Motivational, Educational, and Life Experiences. Thematic analysis of nine visual data narratives generated four themes: Sharing their Stories, Navigating Challenge, Anticipating More, and Building Community.

Conclusions: Community groups and people with TBI facilitated social connections and exchange about symptoms, recovery, struggles, and day-to-day life. Organisations and health professionals used the platform to provide information and promote their services to people with TBI. However, health professionals are under-utilised Instagram to promote social interactions and advocacy. The overall sentiment of the #TraumaticBrainInjury community was supportive and positive, suggesting integration of the platform into TBI rehabilitation would be beneficial for targeting social isolation.