“A massive burden off my shoulders”: participant experiences of a novel cyberscam psychosocial recovery intervention for people with acquired brain injury

Cyberscam survivors experience significant financial losses and devastating psychosocial consequences. Anyone can be scammed, but people with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) may be particularly vulnerable. Smooth Sailing After Scams is a novel co-designed 10-session cyberscam psychosocial intervention piloted with people with ABI who had been scammed. This study aimed to qualitatively explore participants’ experiences of the program. Twenty-two adults (nABI=10, nclose others=8, nclinicians=3) who participated in, or delivered the intervention completed one semi-structured interview via videoconferencing (Mage=54.7, SD = 17.5). Reflexive thematic analysis was used. Seven themes were generated, reflecting factors that supported intervention outcomes and participant experiences. “Intervention enablers” incorporated: 1) “Sense of community”; 2) “Therapeutic alliance”; and 3) “Well-run and well-managed”, “Therapeutic enhancers”: 4) “Increasing insight through the scam adjustment journey”; 5) “It’s brought us closer”, “Positive outcomes”: 6) “I learnt how to stay safe online”, 7) “I don’t feel shame”. This novel cyberscam psychosocial adjustment intervention was perceived to support improvements in cybersafety, emotional and social wellbeing. Further refinement and empirical evaluation through a controlled trial are needed. This work contributes to the often-overlooked area of aftercare for the psychosocial impacts of scams, with particular attention to some of the most vulnerable in the community. Qualitatively, the Smooth Sailing After Scams program resulted in positive outcomes in terms of cybersafety, emotional wellbeing and social support for people with acquired brain injury (ABI). Positive outcomes were a result of the group format, ABI-specific cohorts, strong therapeutic alliance and individualisation. The conceptualised post-scam adjustment as a journey was beneficial in providing insight to cyberscam experiences, acting as both an enabler and outcome of the program. Findings support further research through controlled trials investigating efficacy on a broader scale.