It can be estimated that greater than a single million adults within the UK are at present living with the long-term consequences of brain injuries (Headway, 2014b). Rates of ABI have elevated significantly in current years, with estimated increases more than ten years ranging from 33 per cent (Headway, 2014b) to 95 per cent (HSCIC, 2012). This enhance is due to many different elements like enhanced emergency response following injury (Powell, 2004); additional cyclists interacting with heavier traffic flow; improved participation in unsafe sports; and bigger numbers of extremely old men and women inside the population. In line with Nice (2014), by far the most typical causes of ABI in the UK are falls (22 ?43 per cent), assaults (30 ?50 per cent) and road website traffic accidents (circa 25 per cent), although the latter category accounts for any disproportionate quantity of far more severe brain injuries; other causes of ABI incorporate sports injuries and domestic violence. Brain injury is additional prevalent amongst men than girls and shows peaks at ages fifteen to thirty and over eighty (Good, 2014). International data show similar patterns. For example, in the USA, the Centre for Illness Handle estimates that ABI affects 1.7 million Americans each year; kids aged from birth to 4, older teenagers and adults aged more than sixty-five have the highest rates of ABI, with guys much more susceptible than ladies across all age ranges (CDC, undated, Traumatic Brain Injury within the United states: Truth Sheet, available online at www.cdc.gov/ traumaticbraininjury/get_the_facts.html, accessed December 2014). There is 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). While this article will concentrate on existing UK policy and practice, the issues which it highlights are relevant to many 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 lot of people make an excellent recovery from their brain injury, while other individuals are left with substantial ongoing troubles. Furthermore, as Headway (2014b) cautions, the `initial diagnosis of severity of injury isn’t a trusted indicator of long-term problems’. The potential impacts of ABI are nicely described both in (non-social operate) academic literature (e.g. Fleminger and Ponsford, 2005) and in personal accounts (e.g. Crimmins, 2001; Perry, 1986). Even so, offered the limited interest to ABI in social perform literature, it is worth 10508619.2011.638589 listing a few of the common after-effects: physical issues, cognitive troubles, impairment of executive functioning, modifications to a person’s behaviour and alterations to E7449 site emotional regulation and `personality’. For many people with ABI, there will likely be no physical indicators of impairment, but some may expertise a range of physical issues 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 popular following cognitive activity. ABI could also result in cognitive issues such as complications with journal.pone.0169185 memory and decreased speed of data processing by the brain. These physical and cognitive aspects of ABI, whilst difficult for the person concerned, are reasonably simple for social workers and others to conceptuali.It truly is estimated that greater than one million adults inside the UK are at the moment living with all the long-term consequences of brain injuries (Headway, 2014b). Rates of ABI have increased E7449 chemical information considerably 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 as a result of various things like improved emergency response following injury (Powell, 2004); a lot more cyclists interacting with heavier site visitors flow; increased participation in unsafe sports; and larger numbers of quite old people in the population. In line with Good (2014), essentially the most typical causes of ABI in the UK are falls (22 ?43 per cent), assaults (30 ?50 per cent) and road traffic accidents (circa 25 per cent), though the latter category accounts for a disproportionate variety of additional extreme brain injuries; other causes of ABI contain sports injuries and domestic violence. Brain injury is extra prevalent amongst men than women and shows peaks at ages fifteen to thirty and over eighty (Good, 2014). International data show similar patterns. By way of example, in the USA, the Centre for Disease Control estimates that ABI affects 1.7 million Americans each year; children aged from birth to four, older teenagers and adults aged more than sixty-five have the highest rates of ABI, with guys far more susceptible than women across all age ranges (CDC, undated, Traumatic Brain Injury within the Usa: Fact Sheet, readily available online 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 rates reported to exceed onefifth of combatants (Okie, 2005; Terrio et al., 2009). Whilst this article will focus on current UK policy and practice, the difficulties which it highlights are relevant to numerous national contexts.Acquired Brain Injury, Social Perform 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 fantastic recovery from their brain injury, while other folks are left with substantial ongoing troubles. In addition, as Headway (2014b) cautions, the `initial diagnosis of severity of injury will not be a reliable indicator of long-term problems’. The prospective impacts of ABI are effectively described each in (non-social work) academic literature (e.g. Fleminger and Ponsford, 2005) and in individual accounts (e.g. Crimmins, 2001; Perry, 1986). Having said that, provided the restricted interest to ABI in social function literature, it really is worth 10508619.2011.638589 listing a few of the widespread after-effects: physical difficulties, cognitive difficulties, impairment of executive functioning, changes to a person’s behaviour and alterations to emotional regulation and `personality’. For many people with ABI, there will likely be no physical indicators of impairment, but some could expertise a range of physical troubles including `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 getting especially typical following cognitive activity. ABI may well also trigger cognitive issues for example challenges with journal.pone.0169185 memory and reduced speed of details processing by the brain. These physical and cognitive aspects of ABI, while difficult for the person concerned, are somewhat straightforward for social workers and others to conceptuali.