Head Injury

What is it? 

A head injury - or traumatic brain injury - is characterised by periods of altered consciousness (coma) and/or periods of amnesia and the effect of the injury is damage to the brain tissue. The injury can range from a bump on the head which has minimal consequences to a catastrophic injury which changes the whole course of somebody's life.

The most common causes are road traffic accidents, domestic or industrial accidents, sports and recreational injuries, and assaults.

Who is at risk?

Head injury - or traumatic brain injury - can happen to anyone but it occurs most often between the ages of 16 and 25 when young people are establishing their independence by leaving home, going to college, starting work and having families of their own.

What are the consequences?

The multiplicity of problems that arise following a head injury is potentially devastating and far-reaching, not just for the individual concerned but for their families, friends, neighbours and work colleagues too.

People who have led normal independent lives now find their abilities strangely fragmented, with some skills and aspects of their personality retained, some changed and some lost altogether in a way that is unique to head injury. Long term unemployment and social isolation are common.

Families too become isolated and studies clearly show that the stress and burden felt by some head injured families rises dramatically as time goes by. The care needs of a person who has sustained a brain injury and those of their family are very often complex and presuppose a multi-agency network of service availability not always easily available.

What does case management have to offer?

The role of the Case Manager is to organise appropriate services and support as and when required to ensure people's vocational, social and emotional well-being.