Acquired Brain Injury

What is Acquired Brain Injury?

Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI's) can be broadly classified as either traumatic or non-traumatic, with the consequences of the damage being similar in both. Traumatic injuries include those caused by a severe knock on the head, for example from a motor vehicle accident, fall, or assault. Non-traumatic brain injuries may be caused by lack of oxygen to the brain as a result of infection, vascular accident, brain tumour, or poisoning.

Australia has approximately 200 - 300 hospital admissions for ABI per 100 000 of population each year.

What are the Outcomes after ABI?

A lot of recovery is needed following the initial brain injury as the brain adjusts and heals. The extent of recovery is unique for each individual and depends on factors such as site and extent of injury, cause of injury, age, access to quality medical and rehabilitation programmes, individual and family resources, attitudes, and coping strategies.

There are a number of common long-term consequences associated with ABI. People may not experience all of these difficulties and their degree of difficulty may be either mild or significant.

1. Problems with thinking and understanding (cognitive difficulties), including:

• Difficulties using intellect to solve the problems of daily life, difficulties in thinking and knowing.
• Attention and memory deficits.
• Difficulty planning, following through and checking for errors.
• Difficulty understanding implications of situations, humour, thinking of different solutions to problems.
• Lack of initiative, difficulty moving on from one task to another, reduced activity levels.
• Inflexibility in thought and behaviour such as inability to see other people's point of view.
• Communication problems such as word finding difficulties, difficulty keeping to the point, difficulty understanding the subtle meanings of conversations.
  

2. Emotional/behavioural and social effects, including:

• Lack of insight or self-awareness
• Changes in mood, reduced self-control
• Self-centredness
• Socially inappropriate behaviours
• Irritability and temper outbursts
• Increased helplessness
  

3. Physical and sensory effects. The majority of young people recover most of their motor (physical) functions, however some may retain obvious physical effects such as some paralysis or disorders of movement or sensation, including:

• Poor coordination, balance, or motor planning difficulties
• Fatigue (which may be physical or mental)
• Headaches
• Visual impairments and reduced sense of smell or hearing
  

MontroseAccess and Our Involvement with Children and Adolescents

Children aged between five and twenty years have a greater capacity to recover from a severe head injury than adults. However in children and adolescents with ABI, the capacity to learn may be affected and development of the usual skills may be interrupted.

MontroseAccess provides a service only to those young people whose ABI outcomes are mainly physical. The entire team is usually involved in assisting the child, family and wider community to understand the effects of the ABI and to provide the best environment and management strategies.

Physiotherapists assist with physical and hydrotherapy programmes to address the physical effects of the ABI, prescribe appropriate equipment and advise on participation in PE and physical activities in and out of school.

Occupational Therapists assist when children have difficulties with adapting to their environment and making the transition to new environments e.g. preschool to school, self-care tasks, manipulation skills, participation in daily routines, learning and play and social interactions.
Speech Pathologists work with children when they have difficulties with communication, speech, learning to read and write, eating and swallowing, as well as social skills such as forming and keeping friendships.

Social Workers support the child and family to adjust to the impact of the injury and can assist with coping strategies. They can also link families with other relevant services and resources.

Our Recreation Officers run camps and activity days on a regular basis, allowing children to enjoy fun activities with other children in a safe and sociable environment.
Our Respite Service, both in-home and out-of-home, is available to support parents in the care of their children and give the family a break.