Article

Discussion surrounds the publication The White Book on Physical and
Rehabilitation Medicine in Europe as to whether the medical specialty termed
"physical and rehabilitation medicine" is in fact a reality. OBJECTIVE: To
disclose previously undiscussed issues related to The White Book on Physical and
Rehabilitation Medicine in Europe by juxtaposing its content with a body of work
from a related healthcare approach termed "self-management education". METHODS:
Inspired by discourse analysis and actor network theory, texts on both approaches
were contrasted as having vocabularies of their own expressed under certain
material conditions. ISSUES: Four issues arose: (i) the difference in illness
trajectories between a sudden transition from an able to disabled person after a
disease with acute onset and the indefinite and unpredictable course of a chronic
disease; (ii) the different material and social set-up of clinical and community
rehabilitation settings; (iii) the influence of these different implementation
environments on goal-setting; and (iv) the relative neglect of social theory in
physical and rehabilitation medicine. CONCLUSION: If a bio-psycho-social
functional approach to patients with acute and chronic conditions is regarded as
essential for the identity of physical and rehabilitation medicine, the discourse
on chronic illness should be paid more explicit attention.

Langue : ANGLAIS