Brain injury and social exclusion

This chapter examines the link between brain injury and social exclusion. Evidence suggests that people belonging to socially peripheral and disadvantaged groups are more likely to have suffered an acquired brain injury (ABI), particularly a traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, it is not clear whether this association is due to common risk factors for social exclusion and for brain injury, or whether each increases the risk of the other. The chapter first considers screening for brain injury, with particular emphasis on the Brain Injury Screening Index (BISI), before discussing a number of potential risk factors for brain injury such as homelessness and offending. It then describes a low-cost, low-intensity intervention known as the Linkworker system developed by The Disabilities Trust Foundation (TDTF) and concludes that self-reports of brain injury are an important source of evidence that TBI is prevalent in socially marginalised groups such as offenders and homeless people.