Principles and theories of rehabilitation
- 13 Apr 2009
The basis of this paper is an observation made by Levin and colleagues that the terms ‘recovery' and ‘compensation' have been used to refer to different concepts by different researchers. Too little attention, they argue, has been paid in the past to the distinction between gains in rehabilitation resulting from restoration of ‘normal' function at the level of physiology/kinesiology and gains resulting from physiological adaption or the development of compensatory movement strategies. Read more »
- 27 Mar 2009
2009 is the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of his seminal book ‘Origin of Species’. The theory of evolution is one of the most important biological discoveries, period. However, evolution has also been mis-used to promote thoroughly bad ideas such as eugenics and social engineering. In the area of disability, the theory of evolution is tainted with these notions and terms such as ‘survival of fittest’ and ‘natural selection’ are quite offensive and gives the theory of evolution a bad name (which I think it might not deserve). There are two threads of thinking that I want to very briefly explore to show that the theory of evolution need not be seen as the ‘enemy’, and may actually be helpful in understanding human behaviour. Read more »
- 09 Sep 2008
In June of this year I travelled with my wife Michelle, and 3 month old son Josh, to Stockholm in Sweden, not on some fanatical ABBA related pilgrimage (I’ll leave that to my parents generation), but to study a radically different approach to spinal cord rehabilitation – the Spinalis model. Read more »
This Dutch study examined the process of selecting goals in rehabilitation for children with cerebral palsy, and found some tension between the ideology and the practice. Read more »
- 06 Oct 2007
"Perspectives on Disability & Rehabilitation: Contesting Assumptions; Challenging Practice" by Karen Hammell is textbook that introduces health professionals to theories of disability and rehabilitation that have arisen from the social sciences, and in particular from with the field of Disability Studies. This important textbook brings an area of study which has been largely neglected by the Health Sciences into the world of clinical practice and rehabilitation research. Read more »
Prior to the National NRRINZ/NZRA Rehabilitation Conference in Rotorua in February 2007, academics and rehabilitation theorists from New Zealand and overseas met for a two-day 'think-tank' about contemporary perspectives on that ol' chestnut: 'person-centred rehabilitation'. The outcome from this meeting was a collection of papers published in a Special Edition of the international, peer-reviewed journal 'Disability and Rehabilitation'. Read more »
Alison Masters is a psychiatrist in the Early Intervention Service for Mental Health Services at Capital & Coast District Health Board (CCDHB). She gives the lowdown on providing early interention for young adults with psychosis, the role of consumer advisors in mental health services and the place of rehabilitation principles in the management of psychiatric illness. Read more »
- 01 Jul 2007
This month’s interview is with Julian Verkaaik, Manager of the Burwood Academy of Independent Living (BAIL). BAIL is an independent public trust, situated at the Burwood Hospital campus in Christchurch, and established in Feb 2006. Read more »
While not a research article per se, in this editorial Derick Wade attempts to confront the difficulties that rehabilitation researchers and practitioners have describing what it is exactly that they do. Read more »
Wendi Wicks
