It really is estimated that greater than one particular million adults in the UK are at present living together with the long-term consequences of brain injuries (Headway, 2014b). Prices of ABI have increased 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 as a consequence of a range of aspects including improved emergency response following injury (Powell, 2004); far more cyclists interacting with heavier traffic flow; increased participation in hazardous sports; and larger numbers of very old folks inside the population. As outlined by Nice (2014), essentially the most prevalent causes of ABI in the UK are falls (22 ?43 per cent), assaults (30 ?50 per cent) and road targeted traffic accidents (circa 25 per cent), though the latter category accounts for any disproportionate number of far more severe brain injuries; other causes of ABI consist of sports injuries and domestic violence. Brain injury is much more widespread amongst men than females and shows peaks at ages fifteen to thirty and over eighty (Good, 2014). International information show equivalent patterns. One example is, in the USA, the Centre for Disease Manage estimates that ABI impacts 1.7 million Americans every single year; children aged from birth to four, older teenagers and adults aged more than sixty-five possess the highest rates of ABI, with males extra susceptible than women across all age ranges (CDC, undated, Traumatic Brain Injury inside the United states of america: Fact Sheet, obtainable on-line at www.cdc.gov/ traumaticbraininjury/get_the_facts.html, accessed December 2014). There’s also increasing awareness and concern in 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 focus on present UK policy and practice, the problems which it highlights are relevant to several 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 great recovery from their brain injury, while other folks are left with substantial ongoing difficulties. In addition, as Headway (2014b) cautions, the `initial diagnosis of severity of injury just isn’t a dependable indicator of long-term problems’. The possible impacts of ABI are effectively (Z)-4-Hydroxytamoxifen web described both in (non-social function) academic literature (e.g. Fleminger and Ponsford, 2005) and in personal accounts (e.g. Crimmins, 2001; Perry, 1986). However, provided the restricted attention to ABI in social perform literature, it is actually worth 10508619.2011.638589 listing a few of the common after-effects: physical issues, cognitive issues, impairment of executive functioning, modifications to a person’s behaviour and modifications to 
emotional regulation and `personality’. For many men and women with ABI, there is going to be no physical indicators of impairment, but some may perhaps knowledge a array of physical troubles 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 just after cognitive activity. ABI may perhaps also cause cognitive issues like challenges with journal.pone.0169185 memory and reduced speed of facts processing by the brain. These physical and cognitive elements of ABI, whilst challenging for the individual concerned, are reasonably effortless for social workers and other individuals to conceptuali.