# Designing Computer-Mediated Communication Supports to Improve Social Participation After Traumatic Brain Injury

> **NIH NIH R01** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · $517,104

## Abstract

Abstract
Social media and other computer-mediated communication (CMC) platforms have radically changed the way
we work, live, and build and maintain our social lives. Today, there are more than three billion social media
users worldwide, representing 42% of the world’s population. For individuals with disabilities, CMC has the
potential to overcome existing barriers to social participation, particularly for individuals with motor or sensory
limitations. However, current CMC social-media platforms are not designed with individuals with cognitive
limitations in mind; thus, they do not address barriers to social participation for individuals with cognitive
disabilities, including individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who have impairments in memory, social
perception, and social communication. Adults with moderate-severe TBI report being socially isolated, and
while they do use social media for social interactions and to share experiences, they do so less frequently than
their uninjured peers and report significant challenges with accessibility and usability. CMC has been linked to
increased feelings of well-being and social connectedness and decreased loneliness, which in turn are linked
with positive physical and psychological health. Reducing barriers to CMC platforms for survivors of TBI may
improve social communication, participation, and overall health outcomes. The overarching aim of this project
is to create evidence- and technology-based aids for CMC, specifically for social media use, and evaluate
users’ perceptions of these aids. These data will be used to develop a subsequent clinical trial proposal that
will test the effects of CMC technology aids on social participation in adults with TBI. In preparation for the
clinical trial to test the effects of technology-aid use on social participation and health outcomes, we must first
develop and test the technology, which we do here across three proposed aims: Aim 1: Develop software
technology to support social media use by adults with TBI; Aim 2. Determine user perceptions and usage
patterns of technology aids and patient characteristics to test in a future clinical trial; Aim 3. Develop a clinical-
trial proposal. Through the development, testing, and deployment of technology aids to support social-media
use and the development of a clinical-trial proposal, this project lays the critical foundation for reducing barriers
to social participation for individuals with TBI and improving social functioning and wellbeing. Our research
team possesses the rare combination of expertise in human machine interactions, technology development,
social communication impairment in TBI, patient-centered outcomes, and the relation between CMC and well-
being required to conduct the proposed work

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10200860
- **Project number:** 5R01HD071089-08
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Melissa C Duff
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $517,104
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2012-08-06 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10200860

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10200860, Designing Computer-Mediated Communication Supports to Improve Social Participation After Traumatic Brain Injury (5R01HD071089-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10200860. Licensed CC0.

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