Wayne State graduate Dr. Brigid Waldron-Perrine conducted a study that found that among individuals who have suffered from traumatic brain injuries, feeling closer to a higher power makes rehabilitation easier. The study was published in the journal “Rehabilitation Psychology.”

“One of the most meaningful things in the lives of many people is their connection to a higher power,” Waldron-Perrine said.

Waldron-Perrine graduated from Allegheny College in Meadville, Penn., where she majored in neuroscience and psychology and began to work with individuals with traumatic brain injury. She received her master’s from Drexel University in Philadelphia, where her work with TBI continued. Waldron-Perrine said she came to WSU for graduate school because she would receive “an excellent graduate education” and be able to continue to work with those who have suffered brain injuries.

Waldron-Perrine said she had often heard from TBI patients how faith had helped them through a difficult time or see their experiences in a more positive way. She wanted to study—from a scientific standpoint—whether religious and spiritual beliefs are truly influential in recovering from brain injuries.

“My adviser, Dr. Rapport, mentioned that studying religion scientifically was an up-and-coming area of interest, and we agreed it needed to be done in brain injury, so we did,” Waldron-Perrine said.

WSU psychology professor Dr. Lisa J. Rapport, along with several other researchers, helped make the study possible.

Rapport said researchers hope that health care professionals and others will gain some information and value from the study when working with their patients.

Dr. Robin Hanks, project director of the Southeastern Michigan Traumatic Brain Injury System through the WSU School of Medicine Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, also took part in the study.

“The purpose of this study was to examine the role that spirituality and religion played in emotional and participation outcomes after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury,” Hanks said. “Although religion/spirituality has been studied in other medical populations, there have been very few studies examining these issues in individuals with TBI.”

Those who participated in the study suffered from injuries including gunshot wounds, car accidents, pedestrian accidents and blunt object assaults, among others.

The study measured spiritual connectedness to God as it influences rehabilitation, and the majority of the participants were Christian African-Americans. Waldron-Perrine said the study should be repeated in people of different backgrounds because different facets of religious and spiritual beliefs influence outcomes in people from different backgrounds.

Participants were questioned about different possible factors, such as spiritual well-being, which measures a person’s relationship with a higher power. The participants were asked to rate how they felt on a 0-6 scale, with zero being the lowest and six being the highest.

The study indicated that certain aspects of religious and spiritual belief systems play significant roles in determining rehabilitation outcomes for those with TBI. Individuals who felt connected to a higher power had higher levels of well-being and better functional outcome, indicating that a person’s sense of spirituality is related to rehabilitation success.

“This study is among a growing mass of literature showing that religion can be studied in a rigorous scientific manner,” Rapport said. “It also validates scientifically that religion has some of the positive effects that those who experience it have touted.”

“This study wasn’t about ‘giving’ people religion,” Waldron-Perrine said, “but about trying to better understand if and how people use religion themselves and how much it helps.”