It can be estimated that greater than 1 million adults in the UK are at present living together with the long-term consequences of brain injuries (Headway, 2014b). Prices of ABI have improved considerably in recent years, with estimated increases over ten years ranging from 33 per cent (Headway, 2014b) to 95 per cent (HSCIC, 2012). This enhance is on account of various variables which includes improved emergency response following injury (Powell, 2004); much more cyclists interacting with heavier visitors flow; enhanced participation in hazardous sports; and larger numbers of really old men and women within the population. In accordance with Good (2014), essentially the most common causes of ABI inside the UK are falls (22 ?43 per cent), assaults (30 ?50 per cent) and road targeted traffic 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 far 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 example, within the USA, the Centre for Disease Manage estimates that ABI impacts 1.7 million Americans each and 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 women across all age ranges (CDC, undated, Traumatic Brain Injury in the United states: Reality Sheet, readily available online at www.cdc.gov/ traumaticbraininjury/get_the_facts.html, accessed December 2014). There is also growing 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 existing UK policy and practice, the concerns 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 Citarinostat web people make a very good recovery from their brain injury, while other folks are left with important ongoing issues. Moreover, as purchase TSA 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 limited 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 changes to emotional regulation and `personality’. For a lot of people today with ABI, there is going to be no physical indicators of impairment, but some could practical experience a selection of physical difficulties 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 becoming specifically widespread soon after cognitive activity. ABI may also lead to cognitive troubles for instance problems with journal.pone.0169185 memory and reduced speed of details processing by the brain. These physical and cognitive elements of ABI, whilst challenging for the individual concerned, are fairly uncomplicated for social workers and other folks to conceptuali.It really is estimated that greater than one million adults within the UK are currently living with all the long-term consequences of brain injuries (Headway, 2014b). Prices of ABI have elevated significantly in recent years, with estimated increases over ten years ranging from 33 per cent (Headway, 2014b) to 95 per cent (HSCIC, 2012). This boost is due to various elements such as enhanced emergency response following injury (Powell, 2004); a lot more cyclists interacting with heavier targeted traffic flow; increased participation in harmful sports; and larger numbers of really old men and women in the population. According to Good (2014), one of the most typical causes of ABI within the UK are falls (22 ?43 per cent), assaults (30 ?50 per cent) and road targeted traffic accidents (circa 25 per cent), even though the latter category accounts for any disproportionate number of much more severe brain injuries; other causes of ABI consist of sports injuries and domestic violence. Brain injury is much more popular amongst men than ladies and shows peaks at ages fifteen to thirty and more than eighty (Nice, 2014). International data show comparable patterns. For example, in the USA, the Centre for Disease Manage estimates that ABI affects 1.7 million Americans each and every year; youngsters aged from birth to four, older teenagers and adults aged over sixty-five possess the highest rates of ABI, with men a lot more susceptible than females across all age ranges (CDC, undated, Traumatic Brain Injury in the United states: Fact Sheet, available on the web at www.cdc.gov/ traumaticbraininjury/get_the_facts.html, accessed December 2014). There is certainly also rising 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 short article will focus on present UK policy and practice, the problems 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. Many people make an excellent recovery from their brain injury, while other individuals are left with considerable ongoing troubles. Additionally, as Headway (2014b) cautions, the `initial diagnosis of severity of injury is not a dependable indicator of long-term problems’. The possible impacts of ABI are properly described each in (non-social operate) academic literature (e.g. Fleminger and Ponsford, 2005) and in individual accounts (e.g. Crimmins, 2001; Perry, 1986). However, offered the restricted focus to ABI in social perform literature, it is worth 10508619.2011.638589 listing some of the common after-effects: physical issues, cognitive issues, impairment of executive functioning, adjustments to a person’s behaviour and adjustments to emotional regulation and `personality’. For a lot of individuals with ABI, there will probably be no physical indicators of impairment, but some might practical experience a selection of physical difficulties such as `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 frequent just after cognitive activity. ABI could also cause cognitive troubles for example difficulties with journal.pone.0169185 memory and lowered speed of data processing by the brain. These physical and cognitive aspects of ABI, while difficult for the person concerned, are comparatively straightforward for social workers and others to conceptuali.