Project-Based Intervention for Brain Injury

This online course plans to explore the role of project-based intervention for people with brain injury.

The course will review the evidence and explore core principles (or elements) of the intervention, and the potential impact the intervention can have for people with brain injury. While the focus will be on communication (as the course is delivered by a speech and language therapist), there will be wider areas to consider irrespective of your professional background.

The delivery of project-based intervention will be explored through weekly sessions (either pre-recorded or live), readings and optional activities. You will be able to watch and rate videotapes of actual sessions and consider a wide range of projects to consider for your clients.

This course will share resources and materials, discuss the pitfalls and common challenges of completing projects both individually and in groups, and consider how projects may be delivered both in-person and via telehealth.

Week-by-week you will be invited to reflect on your own clinical practice and caseload, and how projects may be part of your service. These reflections will guide you towards an action plan for delivering projects in practice.

Who is it for?

Focus on social communication disorders following brain injury. However, the intervention has application to a range of rehabilitation professionals including Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Clinical Psychologists, Neuropsychologists and therapy assistants. Anyone involved in wanting to engage people with brain injury in meaningful activities would benefit from attending the course.

Timetable

The 2026 course will take place from 28th September until 9th November (6-7 weeks). Each module can be accessed flexibly online at a time to suit participants from the dates indicated below.  The fourth and final session will be live online sessions. Both will be recorded for if you are unable to attend. The final session will be an opportunity  to discuss any questions you may have and to help guide your thinking to completing projects in practice.

Benefits

Attendees will gain greater knowledge and understanding, and develop skills of the intervention and how to apply the intervention clinically to their own clients with brain injury.

Attendee’s will also be given access to a treatment manual (including session plans, tips for doing projects, templates), a checklist of behaviours for projects, telehealth resources, outcomes, published papers and many links to wide range of projects that have been delivered around the world.

The course leader will be available for support to attendees during the period of the course.

By the end of the course you will be able to:

• Gain knowledge of the evidence-base about project-based intervention and the positive impact it can have for people with brain injury.
• Understand the key principles or elements of project-based intervention.
• Learn more about how projects can be defined according to the aims, targets and ingredients of intervention using the rehabilitation treatment specification system.
• Develop a deeper understanding of the intervention and how best to facilitate the creation of projects, with insights into common pitfalls and challenges
• Identify treatment outcomes that can be used to measure whether project-based intervention has been effective.
• Be able to set individualised goals with people with brain injury and identify strategies to achieve those goals.
• Learn how to deliver project-based intervention via telehealth
• Consider how projects may be used in your own clinical service or setting.
• Create an action plan for designing a project for your own patients or clients.

Teaching

This course will be run entirely online. Each week you will be able to log in and watch pre-recorded materials (e.g. PowerPoint, videos) and access a range of resources (e.g. intervention manual, journal papers, textbooks) to help develop your understanding and knowledge of project-based intervention.

Online Q&A Forums will be available for attendees to communicate with one another and the course lead. There will be several live sessions so that you can ask questions and discuss action plans for delivering your own projects with patients or clients. Live sessions provide an opportunity for peer learning.

Assessment

No formal assessment however, you will be asked to complete a pre- and post-questionnaire and will receive a certificate of attendance upon completion of the course. You will also be asked to complete a questionnaire several months after the end of the course.

For people who need to claim course hours, the CPD hours you could claim is 15 hours.

• This course is provided by the School of Health & Psychological Sciences.

This course is applicable to any rehabilitation professional or assistant working with people who have had a brain injury. However, the course may also be relevant to other clinical populations including, dementia (although this will not be directly discussed).

English requirements

For those students whose first language is not English the following qualification is also required:

• IELTS: 7.0

Behn, N., Marshall, J., Togher, L., & Cruice, M (2019) Feasibility and initial efficacy of project‐based treatment for people with ABI.International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 54 (3), 465-478.

Feeney TJ, Capo M. Making meaning: The use of project-based supports for individuals with brain injury. Journal of Behavioral and Neuroscience Research. 2010;8(1):70-80.

Grant M, Ponsford J. Goal attainment scaling in brain injury rehabilitation: Strengths, limitations and recommendations for future applications. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation. 2014 Oct;24(5):661-77.

Hoepner, J. K., Yingst, H., Harder, B., & Zehm, C. (2022). “I never thought I would be an international speaker… but I am”: an interpretive qualitative analysis of experiences of a project-based advocacy intervention. Neuropsychological rehabilitation, 32(8), 2077-2101.