Brain injury: your questions answered

Exemplar Health Care supports people who have experienced a brain injury, both traumatic and acquired, who are living with complex health and care needs.

Our care homes provide nursing care for those who’ve experienced a severe head injury from either a traumatic brain injury or acquired brain injury, including as a result of having a stroke.

In this blog, we answer some of the common questions about brain injuries.

If you’re looking for a care home for yourself, a relative or patient who’s experienced a brain injury, get in touch with our Referrals Team who can support you to find the right home and guide you through the process.

A brain injury is an injury to the brain caused by trauma to the head or a medical condition.

Brain injuries differ in severity, depending on the type of injury, which can alter how it affects a person and the symptoms they may display.

• An acquired brain injury (ABI) is an injury caused to the brain since birth. This could be as the result of physical trauma, such as a fall or road accident, or a medical condition such as a tumour or stroke.

• A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an injury to the brain caused by a trauma to the head, such as the result of a road traffic accident, assault, fall or accident.

The symptoms a person may experience after a brain injury differs on the severity of the injury.

After a minor head injury people may experience symptoms including:

• headaches

• dizziness

• fatigue

• depression

• memory problems.

Some people may find that they are free from symptoms after a couple of weeks, but some people may experience symptoms for months and even years.

For more severe brain injuries, people are more likely to experience complex long-term effects that can impact their personality and relationships. They may also experience symptoms including:

• memory loss (amnesia)

• fits or seizures

• difficulty speaking or staying awake

• problems with sense, for example hearing loss or double vision

• difficulty walking or with coordination

• difficulty completing daily tasks independently.

Mild brain injuries can cause temporary symptoms that usually go away a few days or weeks after the injury.

Whereas, recovering from a severe brain injury can take a long time. Some people may recover quickly, whereas others may progress more slowly.

Recovering from a severe brain injury can be a long process that requires rehabilitation.

Brain injuries can affect people at any stage of their life and everyone’s injury is unique. This also means that everyone’s rehabilitation process after a brain injury is unique.

People who experience a severe brain injury may require complex nursing care and/or rehabilitation to support their recovery.

Initial treatment and intensive rehabilitation will often be given in hospital or a treatment centre.

When someone no longer needs this treatment, they may be assessed as requiring short or long term care if they’re not able to return home.

At Exemplar Health Care, we provide this ongoing support for people living with a brain injury.  

Our care homes support people living with complex and high acuity needs following a brain injury, such as those who display behaviours of concern.

Our care homes have trained, in-house teams of Registered Nurses and Health Care Assistants.

Our high staffing levels enable us to build trust and support people with all aspects of their life following a brain injury, which leads to improved person-centred outcomes.

We support people in a number of different areas.

• Life skills – our Life Skills Teams support people to rebuild their everyday living skills such as cleaning, washing and cooking, and take part in meaningful activities to improve their wellbeing.

• Physiotherapy – our Physiotherapists support people to maintain optimal muscle function and limit/delay deterioration following a brain injury or stroke.

• Occupational therapy – our Occupational Therapists help people to learn how to adapt and develop their skills following their brain injury or stroke, by considering their physical, social and environmental needs.

• Behaviour support – our dedicated Behaviour Support Team works with individuals and care teams to understand the reasons for people’s behaviour and implement strategies to reduce the frequency and duration of incidents of behaviours of concern, in order to support people to re-integrate with society. The team is supported by our Consultant Psychiatrist in times of crisis.