Review written by Wendy Irons
Brain Injury Case Manager
Just a Little Bit of History Repeating: The recurring and fat
al consequences of lacking professional knowledge of acquired brain injury
Alyson Norman, Mark Holloway - Published in 2022
While undertaking a review of the clients that we support with statutory funding and preparing for a presentation in the autumn about multi-agency working I read the above research completed by Alyson Norman and Mark Holloway.
It is tough reading as it is based on a review of Safeguarding Adult Reviews where adults with acquired brain injuries have died. The key findings of the paper were not a surprise to me as having worked in both a local authority and the NHS specialising in adults with acquired brain injuries and neurological disabilities, I understand these disabilities are often poorly understood within both of those sectors.
It is particularly challenging when the client also has difficulties with alcohol or illicit drug use as this clouds the picture and becomes the focus of professional assessment rather than being investigated as a possible consequence of cognitive impairment, poor social integration, mood disorder, trauma and vulnerability to exploitation.
The physical impacts of an acquired brain injury are more easily seen and understood by both professionals, the person themselves and their family. This is not the case with cognitive impairments particularly those effecting executive function. Often described as the Frontal Lobe Paradox the gulf between what someone can say about their ability to manage daily life and keep themselves safe and what they can do in practice can be large but unseen. This has led to many adults living with acquired brain injury receiving far less support than they need or being judged by professionals to be making unwise decisions rather than the victims of abuse and exploitation.
Many of the most complex situations that Head First help to manage are those where the ‘disability’ is hidden both from our statutory services colleagues and our clients themselves meaning they cannot advocate for themselves and are often at the highest risk of abuse, further injury or disease.
It does not have to be like this and The Heads Together Project reviewing Social Worker knowledge and training in ABI is developing an education platform to address some of the issues raised in this article.
Read the full article here
If you would like to sign up to receive notifications about free resources and up to date information from Head First, click the link below.
