Assessing cognitive communication skills for returning to work following acquired brain injury: a systematic scoping review

PurposeCognitive communication impairments resulting from acquired brain injury (ABI) impact a person's ability to return to and maintain employment. This study reviews the assessment of cognitive communication skills for return to work after injury.Materials and methodsA scoping review was conducted. Key search terms included brain injury, cognitive communication, work and their synonyms. Studies were included if participants had an ABI diagnosis, were at least 16 years old, mentioned vocational rehabilitation or return to work, and cognition or cognitive communication.ResultsA total of 692 studies were identified through database searches with an additional 18 articles found through handsearching. Fourteen articles were included in the final review. Measures, most included in studies target discrete skills when aligned to the Model of Cognitive Communication Competence. The Individual and Contextual Domains of the model were not well represented and there were limited measures able to capture self or other reported data.ConclusionsAssessment of cognitive communication skills for returning to work following ABI requires an individualised and contextualised approach. This study highlights a gap between key clinical models and measures reported in the current literature. Further research into clinical practice is required. Research into resources to help clinicians capture information related to the individual, their role and work environment are needed to support contextualised assessment for return to work.The multifactorial nature of communication should be considered when assessing cognitive communication for return to work. Models such as the Model of Cognitive Communication Competence are available.Measures such as the Functional Assessment of Verbal Reasoning and Executive Strategies and the La Trobe Communication Questionnaire can be considered.