Head Injury Rehabilitation Centre
Sheffield 
 

Sheffield Brain Injury Social Work Team

The Sheffield Brain Injury Social Work Team (BISWT) has offered specialist support for the citizens of Sheffield who have suffered a brain injury (BI) and their families since 1992.
 

The team of 3 social workers (2 Local Authority funded 1 by funded Health) operates within the Sheffield acquired brain injury (ABI) care pathway as members of appropriate multidisciplinary teams i.e. acute admission (neurosurgery and observation unit), sub-acute rehabilitation and community-based rehabilitation.
 

The team believe it is crucial to consider the brain-injured person as an element within an ever-developing family/social system. Brain injury is all too often a catastrophic event that will test and affect the functioning of many families lifelong. With this in mind it is essential to offer support, information and education throughout a family’s journey along the care pathway and beyond.
 

Brain injury rehabilitation services in Sheffield are increasingly valuing families as essential components of the rehabilitation process, accepting that each family is unique in it’s pre-injury functioning and post injury functioning. Many families exist and ‘limp’ along from one crisis to the next post-injury, establishing inappropriate coping and problem solving strategies which disabilitates the brain-injured person further and adds to the ongoing distress of the family. A cycle of co-dependency can be established facilitating poor functioning, which very often contributes to social withdrawal, isolation and breakdown.
 

Challenging negative/degenerative family functioning (usually born from assumptions, habit formation and occasionally based on poor advice) is the role of BISWT within the rehabilitation setting. Many families need support in relinquishing elements of their caring role. Rehabilitation regularly means taking risks in re-establishing roles, responsibilities and independence, which can serve to increase family anxiety albeit (and ideally) short-term.
 

Sheffield BISWT