People living with traumatic brain injury (TBI) often face significant challenges when returning to meaningful roles, activities, and community life. Social isolation, limited access to services, and the complexity of navigating health and community systems can create ongoing barriers to recovery. For those living in regional and remote Queensland, these challenges are often amplified.
A new RECOVER Injury Research Centre project aims to improve how Queenslanders with TBI connect with the services, supports, and opportunities they need to support recovery and wellbeing.
New Funding to Support Digital Innovation for TBI
The project, Pathways to Connection: A Novel Digital Tool for Clinicians and Queenslanders with Traumatic Brain Injury, has received funding through the Queensland Brain Injury Collaborative (QBIC) Seed Funding Grant Scheme.
Led by Dr Megan Ross, the project will co-design and prototype a digital navigation tool designed to help people with TBI, their families, and clinicians more easily identify and access health, community, and research services across Queensland.
The concept originated at a QBIC workshop in 2024, where stakeholders identified ongoing gaps in post-injury support and service navigation. In response, participants proposed the development of a digital platform featuring an interactive map of Queensland cities and towns. The platform would provide information about local community support groups, social connection opportunities, health practitioners, and active research studies.
Putting Consumer and Community Voices at the Centre
Ensuring the solution reflects the needs and preferences of people living with TBI has been a key priority from the outset.
Funding through the UQ Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences (HMBS) Consumer and Community Involvement (CCI) KICKSTART Grant Scheme enabled the RECOVER team to build on the initial insights generated during the QBIC workshops.
Through a series of interviews, people with lived experience of TBI and their caregivers highlighted a strong need for a user-friendly, locally relevant digital platform that makes it easier to find services, connect with others, and access opportunities for community participation.
These conversations provided valuable insights into the barriers people face when seeking support and helped identify the features that would make a digital tool both accessible and meaningful for users.
Lived Experience Shaping Project Design
Jason Driscoll, a member of RECOVER Injury Research Centre's Consumer Advisory Group, contributed to the consultation process and shared his experience of living with TBI in a regional community.
“I have difficulty finding services and connecting with other people with TBI in Pittsworth,” said Jason.
“Having a TBI can feel lonely. Even just connecting online helps, so an app to help connect people in the TBI community would be so valuable.”
People with lived experience of TBI, along with their caregivers, played a vital role in defining project priorities, identifying barriers to support, and outlining what an effective digital navigation tool should look like.
Their contributions directly informed the project's direction and were recognised by the funding committee as a key strength of the successful grant application.
Co-Designing Better Pathways to Support
The newly funded project will build on this strong foundation through a structured co-design process over the next 12 months. Consumers, caregivers, clinicians, and community organisations will work together to refine requirements and develop a prototype app.
By embedding consumer involvement throughout the project, the team aims to create a practical and accessible solution that helps people find services, strengthen social connections, and participate more fully in their communities.
Ultimately, Pathways to Connection seeks to address not only gaps in service navigation but also the broader experience of disconnection that many people living with TBI report, helping Queenslanders access the support they need, when and where they need it.
Learn More
For more information about the project, email Dr Megan Ross at m.ross@uq.edu.au.
