ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the impact of Acquired Brain Injury upon an individual, the role of rehabilitation services in recovery from and adaptation to the condition, and look at the impact this has upon family members. Brain injury can result in complex presentations of fatigue, pain, sensory and physical impairments, language difficulties, cognitive and emotional disorders, and personality changes. Carroll and R. Coetzer found individuals with brain injury in their study reported significant changes in self-concept. The makeup and functioning of families varies considerably, culturally and within a single family across time, and there is a sense of interdependence between family members. The nature of the trauma experienced by family is one where the security provided by the assumptive world can be lost, and previously held beliefs about, and for the future is shattered. The experience is described as: a lifelong journey of understanding disabilities and impairment while working to accept the changes that have occurred in one’s life.
