It can be estimated that more than 1 million adults inside the UK are presently living with all 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 enhance is due to several different aspects like improved emergency response following injury (Powell, 2004); a lot more cyclists interacting with heavier visitors flow; improved participation in unsafe sports; and bigger numbers of extremely old folks within the population. In line with Good (2014), the most frequent 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 to get a disproportionate number of extra severe brain injuries; other causes of ABI include sports injuries and domestic violence. Brain injury is more common amongst guys than females and shows peaks at ages fifteen to thirty and more than eighty (Nice, 2014). International information show equivalent patterns. One example is, in the USA, the Centre for Disease Handle estimates that ABI affects 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 CI-1011MedChemExpress CI-1011 highest rates of ABI, with guys extra susceptible than ladies across all age ranges (CDC, undated, Traumatic Brain Injury within the Usa: Fact Sheet, out there on the web at www.cdc.gov/ traumaticbraininjury/get_the_facts.html, accessed December 2014). There is also escalating 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 lots of 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 a great recovery from their brain injury, whilst other individuals are left with significant ongoing issues. Moreover, as Headway (2014b) cautions, the `initial diagnosis of severity of injury isn’t a reputable indicator of long-term problems’. The prospective impacts of ABI are well described each in (non-social function) academic literature (e.g. Fleminger and Ponsford, 2005) and in individual accounts (e.g. Crimmins, 2001; Perry, 1986). However, provided the limited focus to ABI in social work literature, it truly is worth 10508619.2011.638589 listing a few of the prevalent after-effects: physical issues, cognitive difficulties, impairment of executive functioning, modifications to a person’s behaviour and modifications to emotional regulation and `personality’. For many folks with ABI, there are going to be no physical indicators of impairment, but some may experience a array 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 being especially frequent following cognitive activity. ABI may well also cause cognitive troubles for example issues with journal.pone.0169185 memory and reduced speed of facts processing by the brain. These physical and cognitive aspects of ABI, whilst difficult for the person concerned, are relatively straightforward for social workers and other folks to conceptuali.