Evidence-based Reflective Commentary: When is a goal not a goal?

Introduction and Context The impact of childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI) is sudden and overwhelming - in an instant, the life trajectory of the injured child and their family is abruptly changed (Chevignard et al., 2020). Rehabilitation professionals, including paediatric physiotherapists, work alongside children and families in supporting recovery following TBI. Effective rehabilitation considers the background, needs and values of each individual and family when looking to integrate rehabilitation into everyday life (Baldwin et al., 2013; Ziegler and Hadders-Algra, 2020). The value of collaborative working between healthcare professionals and key stakeholders - including experts by experience such as parents of children affected by TBI - is important in all aspects of health and care, and particularly relevant during the co-design process (Robert et al., 2022). Such collaboration can provide unique and important insights into the lived experience of those affected by TBI (Skivington et al., 2021). This commentary is a reflection on the experiences of a paediatric physiotherapist (David) and worked alongside the mother of a child who suffered a TBI at the age of 11 (Kate) who worked together to co-design an intervention to support parents to deliver physiotherapy to their injured child following a TBI. This co-design work took place within the context of David’s National Institute for Health and Care Research funded PhD (NIHR301583), resulting in a digital intervention called ‘Physio Together’. It was during co-design discussions that the topic of rehabilitation goals was raised.