It’s estimated that more than 1 million adults within the UK are presently living with the long-term consequences of brain injuries (Headway, 2014b). Rates of ABI have increased 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 improve is as a result of many different elements which includes improved emergency response following injury (Powell, 2004); extra cyclists interacting with heavier site visitors flow; increased participation in harmful sports; and bigger numbers of extremely old individuals within the population. In line with Nice (2014), essentially the most typical causes of ABI inside the UK are falls (22 ?43 per cent), assaults (30 ?50 per cent) and road site visitors accidents (circa 25 per cent), even though the latter category accounts for any disproportionate quantity of more serious brain injuries; other causes of ABI include sports injuries and domestic violence. Brain injury is much more prevalent amongst men than ladies and shows peaks at ages fifteen to thirty and over eighty (Good, 2014). International information show similar patterns. As an example, inside the USA, the Centre for Illness Handle estimates that ABI impacts 1.7 million Americans each year; youngsters aged from birth to 4, older teenagers and 
adults aged more than sixty-five possess the highest rates of ABI, with men additional susceptible than girls across all age ranges (CDC, undated, Traumatic Brain Injury within the Usa: Truth Sheet, available on line at www.cdc.gov/ traumaticbraininjury/get_the_facts.html, accessed December 2014). There’s also escalating awareness and concern inside 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 focus on present UK policy and practice, the issues which it highlights are relevant to numerous national contexts.Acquired Brain Injury, Social Function 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 a superb recovery from their brain injury, while other individuals are left with significant ongoing difficulties. Furthermore, as Headway (2014b) cautions, the `initial diagnosis of severity of injury will not be a trustworthy indicator of long-term problems’. The possible impacts of ABI are properly described each in (non-social perform) academic literature (e.g. Fleminger and Ponsford, 2005) and in private accounts (e.g. Crimmins, 2001; Perry, 1986). On the other hand, offered the restricted attention to ABI in social work literature, it can be worth 10508619.2011.638589 listing a number of the common after-effects: physical troubles, MS023 site cognitive difficulties, impairment of executive functioning, adjustments to a person’s behaviour and changes to emotional regulation and `personality’. For many people today with ABI, there will likely be no physical indicators of impairment, but some may well expertise a array of physical issues 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 specifically common just after cognitive activity. ABI might also result in cognitive troubles which include problems with journal.pone.0169185 memory and reduced speed of data processing by the brain. These physical and cognitive elements of ABI, whilst challenging for the person concerned, are somewhat simple for social workers and other people to conceptuali.
