Financial Empowerment for Adults Living With Brain Injury: Systems Advocacy for Inclusive and Accessible Financial Contexts to Improve Financial Well-being

Research Objectives To identify innovative financial empowerment program ideas for improving the financial well-being of adults living with acquired brain injury (ABI). Design Researchers completed a descriptive qualitative focus-group study guided by content analysis and framework approach. Setting Researchers facilitated online or in-person focus-groups between January and May 2022. Participants This study included 25 adults in seven different focus-groups across three participant group types: (1) adults living with ABI (n=15 participants; five focus-groups), (2) caregivers/family (n=2; one focus-group), and (3) the Project Advisory Group (PAG; n=8; one focus-group). Two-thirds (66.7%) of participants who live with ABI self-identified as women and had varied ABI histories (i.e., traumatic brain injury (60%), stroke (13.3%), or other ABI-mechanisms (26.7%)). The two female caregiver/family participants were a spouse and a parent of an adult who lives with ABI. The PAG participants included researchers with relevant expertise, community ABI association staff, and one person living with ABI. Interventions None. Main Outcome Measures Not applicable. Results A financial empowerment idea category raised by all focus-groups was systems advocacy. Six different focus-groups emphasized advocacy for: (1) ABI-inclusive financial environments (e.g., creating ABI friendly financial contexts); (2) accessible financial resources (e.g., easier application and eligibility processes for accessing needed financial benefits), and (3) legislation for financial protection and safety (e.g., disability related policies or laws for financial contracts). Two focus-groups discussed improved access to free or low-cost legal advice. One focus-group emphasized access to physicians and rehabilitation practitioners who were knowledgeable about ABI and relevant financial resources, as these professionals were often integral to accessing income and benefits. Conclusions This study identified systems advocacy as salient to financial empowerment and improving the financial well-being of people living with ABI, which remain large unmet needs for many people after an ABI. Systems advocacy could improve important social determinants of health for many people living with ABI. Author(s) Disclosures None.