The results indicated that the participants experienced an oscillation between experiencing the multiple losses of their parental role and attempting to adapt and adjust to these changes. These findings are discussed in relation to clinical and theoretical implications for parents who are inpatients with an ABI up to 2 years post-injury.

There is very little evidence of the use of strengths based approaches to helping families manage the uncertainty associated with progressive neurological illness despite it having been identified as a key target for intervention. The review highlights the need for the development of an intervention framework to address this key clinical issue and suggests one model that might show promise.

Little work is carried out with child relatives by acquired brain injury rehabilitation staff, influenced by several factors. A priority in addressing this is to provide staff training.

Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) significantly affects individuals across multiple areas of intimate, familial, and parental domains. Gender and identity are pivotal research areas in navigating life after ABI. To date, scant research has explored gendered experiences, particularly those related to the masculine lifeworld. This study aimed to explore how men who were fathers before their injuries experience fatherhood after ABI. An Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) methodology was used, and seven fathers participated in the semi-structured interviews (time since injury 1-18 years, age range 27-66 years) which explored their meaning-making. Four superordinate themes were drawn from all interviews through engaging with the qualitative research process: (1) what being a father means, (2) altered relationships with others, (3) becoming lost and finding their way through, and (4) renewed fatherhood. The findings show intersectionality between pre-and post-injury comparisons of self and social identities, alongside the contextual and societal identities in the subjective fathering experiences. Through increased understanding, we may enable fathers to find new ways to resolve, reformulate, and connect to move into their future possible fatherhood. The importance of this research is in giving voice to these less represented men so that we may shape our understanding to aid future fathers post-ABI.

Although the literature documents the considerable problems acquired brain injury causes for the survivor's family and close relationships, and the corresponding significantly inflated rate of separation and divorce, few papers offer practical solutions. The objective of this paper is to respond to this gap in the literature by presenting some of the problems raised for the rehabilitation team when a family separates, and some suggestions for ways in which these problems could be overcome. The literature is reviewed briefly, followed by reflections and suggestions which are based on this review and on clinical experience. The discussion indicates that there are a number of practical dilemmas raised for the rehabilitation team when a family already involved in the rehabilitation process starts to break up. Some specific suggestions for addressing these issues are made; further research is needed to evaluate their effectiveness.