Traumatic brain injury refers to an acquired injury to the brain as a result of an external physical force such as a blow to the head, or the head being forced to move rapidly forward or backward such as with whiplash. Traumatic brain injury usually involves some loss of consciousness and essentially involves damage to brain tissue. This can be in the form of bleeding (bruising), tearing or swelling.
Traumatic brain injury can be the result of either an open or closed injury, that is, the skull and membrane lining of the brain have or have not been fractured respectively. Closed injury is the most common cause of traumatic brain injury and it is more likely that the brain injury occurs with little or no visible injury to the head. Typical examples include motor vehicle accidents, assaults, falls and sporting injuries.
Symptoms and characteristics:
Symptoms of traumatic brain injury vary considerably depending on where the damage has occurred, as well as the severity of the damage. The more general effects of traumatic brain injury relevant to the workplace include:
- difficulty learning new things
- difficulty understanding things
- lack of motivation
- less organised
- memory and concentration problems
- more easily fatigued
- poor social skills
- prone to stress
- trouble solving problems and lack of insight
- weakness or paralysis of muscles
- coordination problems.
(Brain Injury Association of Queensland 2006; CRS Australia 2007; MeritCare 2007).
Workplace solutions and adjustments:
In the workplace there are various factors that would assist people with traumatic brain injuries to better manage their symptoms. These include changes to work tasks and the environment, such as:
- organising the work day with set structure and routine
- if possible enable work duties to be done in one area to assist with familiarisation and learning
- use prompts to trigger memory and recall such as alarms, computer alerts, visual prompts, cue cards, task breakdown lists or simply a buddy system
- education for co-workers about the condition
- specify appropriate workplace behaviour such as the use of swearing or aggressiveness and how this will be handled
- if people experience difficulty with poor judgement, safety within the workplace needs to be addressed especially if exposed to hazardous substances or other circumstances or products with potential risk of injury
- presentation of training materials in varying formats including hands on practical training, audio visual training such as DVD’s and written handouts, pamphlets or checklists that can be referred back to
- consider the use of lifting or mechanical aids such as trolleys to minimise manual handling requirements, along with the use of specialised seating if balance or posture capacity is affected.
The Employment Assistance Fund provides financial assistance for work-related modifications, equipment and services to help people with disability to get employment and perform their work as independently and productively as possible. To determine eligibility, please refer to the full guidelines:
Further information is available on other workplace solutions and adjustments which can assist those with acquired brain injuries:
References:
Brain Injury Association of Queensland 2006, Fact sheets, Brain Injury Association of Queensland, Brisbane, viewed 22 February 2007, http://www.biaq.com.au/factsheets.htm
CRS Australia 2007, Section 5. Changes in thinking, learning and communication, Australian Government Department of Human Services, Canberra, viewed 24 February, 2007, http://www.crsaustralia.gov.au/22ew.htm
MeritCare 2007, Types of ABI, MeritCare Health System, Fargo, viewed 16
February 2007, http://www.meritcare.com/specialties/rehab/brain/abi/