Physical and rehabilitation medicine and self-management education: a comparative analysis of two approaches.
BACKGROUND
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.


OBJECTIVE
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.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Jansma
Feyuna F I
FF
Center for Rehabilitation, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands. F.F.I.Jansma@cvr.umcg.nl
Twillert
Sacha van
Sv
Postema
Klaas
K
Sanderman
Robbert
R
Lettinga
Ant T
AT
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010810:Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine / Q000193:education*; D011340:Problem Solving; D011788:Quality of Life; D012046:Rehabilitation / Q000193:education*; D012050:Rehabilitation, Vocational; D020377:Self Efficacy; D009626:Terminology as Topic