Abstract

The multi-disability nature of acquired brain injury and its complex effects make the return to employment particularly problematic. Brain Injury and Returning to Employment provides a clear overview of the cognitive and psychological difficulties associated with brain injury and discusses how people affected by it can prepare for and remain in employment.

The author offers effective occupational techniques to address impaired memory, attention and executive functions, and difficulties with organisation and planning skills, as well as the speech impairments commonly associated with acquired brain injury. He also examines the environmental, emotional, physical and psychological barriers to work reintegration and offers a range of solutions to these problems, including mentoring relationships with colleagues.

This book will be essential reading for professionals working with brain-injured individuals in the fields of psychology, occupational therapy, employment advisory services and human resources.

Although written for practitioners working with people with brain injury, this book provides excellent reading for a wider readership. For the specialist and non-specialist professional, and service user alike, this book offers a concise, lucid and accessible account of the nature of brain injury and the challenges to consider when planning a return to employment… I would have no hesitation in suggesting that those new to this area should read the first three chapters of this book: Neurological Impairment; The Broader Picture, Acquired Brain (Head) Injury; and Brain Injury Problems.' The remaining chapters, including very informative studies, provide a comprehensive and very useful checklist for practitioners involved with brain injury and rehabilitation. Overall a superb book with a bonus added at the end – the glossary of terms which give sound and comprehensible definitions.
Community Care
`This is thought to be the first ever guide on how healthcare and professionals from other sectors can support people with acquired brain injury to return to employment…In this publication, Japp offers effective occupational techniques to address impaired memory, attention and cognitive functions, the difficulties people have with planning and organising themselves, and speech and communication difficulties. He also deals with the environmental, emotional, physical and psychological barriers to work re-integration. This should be of use not only to healthcare professionals, but also to professionals in social care, careers and training settings in general.'
Care and Health Magazine
James Japp is a chartered occupational psychologist specialising in clinical neuropsychology and a medico-legal expert on the assessment of brain injured clients. For many years he has been at the forefront of developing vocational rehabilitation programmes for the early intervention and return to work for individuals with an acquired brain injury. James is consultant psychologist at The Papworth Trust and Clinical Director at Neuropsychologists UK, an organisation which promotes good practice in returning brain injured clients to employment.
`Japp has a talent for cutting straight through to the heart of a particular problem for a TBI client and for their case manager. He helps us to understand the problem and offers practical suggestions…He describes the importance of introducing appropriate strategies to overcome potential difficulties. This is where Japp admirably fills the gap between the assessment and the practice. It is in this respect that Japp's book is so exceptional. He takes a factor such as concentration - a problem which the practitioner invariably encounters in cases of TBI - and he helps to unpick some of the difficulties in understanding its effects and how to help a client…Japp goes on with many valuable suggestions about working with employers. He remains positive and encouraging to the client and the practitioner throughout…It is especially gratifying to find such an exceptional book in the British canon of brain injury vocational rehab where the market has tended to be dominated for so long by American studies.'
Rehabilitation Network (www.rehabilitation-network.org)
`Brain Injury and Returning to Employment attempts to give the professional a broad introduction to dealing with clients who have suffered a brain injury of some sort. Although aimed at a wide range of professionals, from careers guidance workers through to social workers, the focus of the book is always on how the injury incurred affects the person's ability to return to work…This book certainly provides the reader with a thorough introduction to this complex area. The information provided is detailed and holistic; never does Japp focus on just the physical implications of an injury. He sees the injury in the broadest sense how it affects the person emotionally and then how this impacts on their ability to work…It provides good practical advice: for example, when to pass to other professionals, such as occupational psychologists. There is also an excellent section on health and safety that takes the guidance worker through the items that would need thinking about when helping a person back to the working world.'
Newscheck