Acquired Brain Injury, Parenting, Social Work, and Rehabilitation: Supporting Parents to Support Their Children

ABSTRACT

Growing numbers of adults live with the consequences of acquired brain injury (ABI). Those affected frequently require medical input, rehabilitation, and social care. Individuals could suffer from a range of impairments that affect functional abilities. Limited attention has been paid to parenting with an ABI both within the social work and ABI literature. Parents with ABI present specific challenges to social workers and rehabilitationists. Case studies are used to illustrate how services can work to protect and support all parties, facilitating engagement with rehabilitation. The article concludes by considering the knowledge needed to facilitate engagement with rehabilitation and support.

KEYWORDS:

• Acquired brain injury
• brain injury case management
• children
• community participation
• disability rights
• executive dysfunction
• neurorehabilitation
• parenting with disabilities
• social work

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Allison Rowlands for her significant support in the preparation of this article and also Jo Clark Wilson and Grahame Simpson for their guidance.

Notes on contributors

Mark Holloway, DipSW, MA, is a UK qualified and registered social worker with 25 years of experience working with people with an acquired brain injury. He is a brain injury case manager, expert witness, and doctoral researcher. His research interests include the neurofunctional approach to rehabilitation and support, family response to and experience of brain injury, the use of motivational interviewing, and the impact of executive impairment and reduced insight on functioning. He has provided evidence for the UK House of Commons and House of Lords regarding the impact of brain injury. He is an advanced member of the British Association of Brain Injury Case Managers.

Lauren Tyrrell, BSW, has been the clinical lead social worker with the Trauma Team at the McKellar Community Rehabilitation Centre in Geelong, Australia, since 2010. She previously worked across a range of community and health settings both clinically as a social worker, as well as a program and service advisor, and completed a regional alcohol and other drugs project. She is currently completing a master’s in family therapy. Her research interests are clinically oriented to her practice in acquired brain injury rehabilitation, including a current project developing a parenting program individually tailored for adults with an acquired brain injury. She collaborates with colleagues from similar centers across Australia working to establish best practice in the way her team treats patients within their family context. She is a member of the Australian Association of Social Workers.