175 Vol. 21, No. 3; 2009 PRACTICE BRIEF Acquired Brain Injury Club at a Community College: Opportunities for Support, Involvement, and Leadership Nancy Resendes Chinn Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, California Abstract College students with acquired brain injuries face unique challenges. The likelihood of individuals with acquired brain injury experiencing isolation, lack of social support, and diminished self-esteem, along with cognitive impairments, is well documented in the literature. This article presents an overview of a community college’s club for students with acquired brain injuries that attempts to address these concerns. Inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation of individu- als with acquired brain injury has continued to improve over the last 20 years (Olver, Ponsford & Curran, 1996). However, research indicates that the psycho- social and cognitive impairments persist several years beyond initial rehabilitative efforts (Finsest, Dyrnes, & Berstad, 1995). Olver et al. state that while signifcant functional gains can be seen in the frst fve years of recovery, over half of those in their study reported they were socially isolated since their accident. Teasell and McRae (2000) found in their study of social factors following stroke in younger (under 50) individuals that along with return-to-work issues, relationships were also affected. Ellis-Hill and Horn (2000) found that participants in their study on identity and self-concept following stroke reported “a negative sense of self, reduced social activity, and psychological morbidity despite inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation.” In the area of minor brain injury, Kay (1993) refers to the “shaken sense of self…especially in the absence of external validation and in the presence of normal appearance” with a “loss of self-esteem, isolation and alienation as a result” (p.75). These impairments in the area of psychosocial functioning signifcantly impact the ability of individuals with acquired brain injury to resume and engage social roles, and result in signifcant social handicap (Wood, 2001). In an effort to address the social aspects of disabil- ity along with the medical, The World Health Organiza- tion (WHO) has recently expanded the International Classifcation of Functioning and Health (ICF), thus putting “health and disability into a new light” (World Health Organization, 2008). Its categories for measur- ing disability now include the categories of “activities and participation” that address community, social, and civic life. Addressing these areas for individu- als with acquired brain injury remains a challenge. Community-based case management models and day treatment programs can approach this need (McMillan & Oddy, 2001), but funding limitations and access to such programs remain problematic. In her discussion of loneliness and isolation following brain injury, Rowlands (2000) offers a “Circle of Support” model where a network of friends consisting of “workers or volunteers” is built around an individual who may have lost friends and support as a result of disability, such as brain injury (p. 159). One of the limitations of establishment of this kind of network, according to Rowlands, is the “lack of reciprocity,” though there is potential for members to become “helpers” in the group. Neath and Schriner (1998) address the areas of participation and civic involvement for individuals with disabilities through the concept of empowerment. They advocate for an extension beyond the medical model of rehabilitation, toward a focus on facilitating empowerment that is more in keeping with the spirit of the disability rights movement where “individuals come together as equals…relationships are character- ized by respect for and valuing of other group mem- bers…[with] an important social force that aids in the development of personal power for individuals” (Neath & Schriner, 1998, p. 219).