Educating families and caretakers of traumatically brain injured patients in the new health care environment: a three phase model and bibliography.

Shorter inpatient stays for traumatically brain injured patients frequently allow less time for comprehensive education of families and caretakers. What is needed to compensate for the shortened duration of brain injury rehabilitation in many settings is a family educational programme that (1) satisfies the family's acute information needs as they arise, and (2) standardizes the delivery of information so that certain knowledge criteria are met. The following article proposes a three phase model of family and caretaker education with an accompanying bibliographical index.