It can be estimated that greater than one million adults in the UK are at present living together with the long-term consequences of brain injuries (Headway, 2014b). Rates of ABI have improved considerably in current years, with estimated increases more than ten years ranging from 33 per cent (Headway, 2014b) to 95 per cent (HSCIC, 2012). This improve is on account of various variables which JNJ-7777120 chemical information includes improved emergency response following injury (MedChemExpress KN-93 (phosphate) Powell, 2004); much more cyclists interacting with heavier visitors flow; enhanced participation in dangerous sports; and larger numbers of really old men and women within the population. In accordance with Good (2014), the most common causes of ABI inside the UK are falls (22 ?43 per cent), assaults (30 ?50 per cent) and road visitors accidents (circa 25 per cent), although the latter category accounts for any disproportionate quantity of a lot more extreme brain injuries; other causes of ABI involve sports injuries and domestic violence. Brain injury is a lot more widespread amongst males than women and shows peaks at ages fifteen to thirty and more than eighty (Nice, 2014). International data show equivalent patterns. For instance, within the USA, the Centre for Disease Manage estimates that ABI impacts 1.7 million Americans every year; youngsters aged from birth to four, older teenagers and adults aged more than sixty-five possess the highest rates of ABI, with males more susceptible than girls across all age ranges (CDC, undated, Traumatic Brain Injury inside the United states: Reality Sheet, readily available online at www.cdc.gov/ traumaticbraininjury/get_the_facts.html, accessed December 2014). There is certainly also increasing awareness and concern within the USA about ABI amongst military personnel (see, e.g. Okie, 2005), with ABI rates reported to exceed onefifth of combatants (Okie, 2005; Terrio et al., 2009). While this article will concentrate on current UK policy and practice, the issues which it highlights are relevant to numerous national contexts.Acquired Brain Injury, Social Work and PersonalisationIf the causes of ABI are wide-ranging and unevenly distributed across age and gender, the impacts of ABI are similarly diverse. A number of people make a very good recovery from their brain injury, while other folks are left with important ongoing issues. In addition, as Headway (2014b) cautions, the `initial diagnosis of severity of injury is just not a dependable indicator of long-term problems’. The possible impacts of ABI are nicely described each in (non-social operate) academic literature (e.g. Fleminger and Ponsford, 2005) and in private accounts (e.g. Crimmins, 2001; Perry, 1986). On the other hand, given the restricted interest to ABI in social work literature, it can be worth 10508619.2011.638589 listing a number of the common after-effects: physical troubles, cognitive troubles, impairment of executive functioning, changes to a person’s behaviour and alterations to emotional regulation and `personality’. For a lot of people today with ABI, there will likely be no physical indicators of impairment, but some could practical experience a range of physical issues like `loss of co-ordination, muscle rigidity, paralysis, epilepsy, difficulty in speaking, loss of sight, smell or taste, fatigue, and sexual problems’ (Headway, 2014b), with fatigue and headaches being specifically typical soon after cognitive activity. ABI may also lead to cognitive troubles for instance problems with journal.pone.0169185 memory and lowered speed of info processing by the brain. These physical and cognitive elements of ABI, whilst challenging for the individual concerned, are fairly uncomplicated for social workers and others to conceptuali.It is estimated that greater than one million adults in the UK are at the moment living together with the long-term consequences of brain injuries (Headway, 2014b). Prices of ABI have improved considerably in recent years, with estimated increases more than ten years ranging from 33 per cent (Headway, 2014b) to 95 per cent (HSCIC, 2012). This increase is on account of a number of variables like improved emergency response following injury (Powell, 2004); extra cyclists interacting with heavier website traffic flow; enhanced participation in dangerous sports; and larger numbers of quite old individuals within the population. In accordance with Nice (2014), one of the most common causes of ABI in the UK are falls (22 ?43 per cent), assaults (30 ?50 per cent) and road site visitors accidents (circa 25 per cent), although the latter category accounts for any disproportionate number of additional severe brain injuries; other causes of ABI incorporate sports injuries and domestic violence. Brain injury is much more frequent amongst guys than girls and shows peaks at ages fifteen to thirty and more than eighty (Nice, 2014). International data show similar patterns. For example, in the USA, the Centre for Disease Handle estimates that ABI affects 1.7 million Americans each and every year; children aged from birth to 4, older teenagers and adults aged over sixty-five have the highest rates of ABI, with men far more susceptible than women across all age ranges (CDC, undated, Traumatic Brain Injury inside the United states of america: Reality Sheet, available on the web at www.cdc.gov/ traumaticbraininjury/get_the_facts.html, accessed December 2014). There’s also increasing awareness and concern within the USA about ABI amongst military personnel (see, e.g. Okie, 2005), with ABI prices reported to exceed onefifth of combatants (Okie, 2005; Terrio et al., 2009). Whilst this article will focus on existing UK policy and practice, the problems which it highlights are relevant to quite a few national contexts.Acquired Brain Injury, Social Operate and PersonalisationIf the causes of ABI are wide-ranging and unevenly distributed across age and gender, the impacts of ABI are similarly diverse. Some individuals make a very good recovery from their brain injury, whilst other folks are left with significant ongoing issues. Moreover, as Headway (2014b) cautions, the `initial diagnosis of severity of injury isn’t a reliable indicator of long-term problems’. The possible impacts of ABI are nicely described each in (non-social function) academic literature (e.g. Fleminger and Ponsford, 2005) and in private accounts (e.g. Crimmins, 2001; Perry, 1986). Having said that, provided the limited attention to ABI in social function literature, it can be worth 10508619.2011.638589 listing a number of the popular after-effects: physical difficulties, cognitive difficulties, impairment of executive functioning, adjustments to a person’s behaviour and alterations to emotional regulation and `personality’. For many persons with ABI, there will be no physical indicators of impairment, but some may perhaps knowledge a selection of physical issues which includes `loss of co-ordination, muscle rigidity, paralysis, epilepsy, difficulty in speaking, loss of sight, smell or taste, fatigue, and sexual problems’ (Headway, 2014b), with fatigue and headaches becoming especially typical following cognitive activity. ABI might also bring about cognitive difficulties such as difficulties with journal.pone.0169185 memory and decreased speed of data processing by the brain. These physical and cognitive aspects of ABI, while challenging for the individual concerned, are reasonably straightforward for social workers and other people to conceptuali.