Moving on. A farewell from the last Editor-in-Chief who says: 'Rehabilitation is a way of thinking, not a way of doing'. (March 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wade, Derick T
• Is Part Of: Clinical rehabilitation. Volume 37:Number 3(2023)
• Page Start: 287
• Page End: 293
• Publication Date: 2023-03
• Subjects: Rehabilitation -- research -- publication; Medical rehabilitation -- Periodicals; 617.03
• DOI: 10.1177/02692155221131248
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0269-2155

Abstract

What is rehabilitation? From 1994 to 2021, while I was privileged to be Editor of Clinical Rehabilitation, I explored this in editorials. I also encouraged and selected submissions that considered, in one way or another, the central features of rehabilitation. Why? Because when I started in rehabilitation, the general attitude among doctors and other healthcare professionals was that rehabilitation was pleasant but with no evidence of effectiveness. Further, they did not think a doctor had a role to play and did not think there was anything special for rehabilitation experts to know or have skills in. In this editorial, I discuss how, as editor, I used my position to support and encourage the publication of articles that produced evidence, considered the conceptual and scientific basis of rehabilitation, and ultimately answered the above question. I illustrate this with a few specific papers published in Clinical Rehabilitation. After 30 years, I have concluded that the essential feature characterising rehabilitation is its way of thinking about the patient's problems and how to solve them. Rehabilitation is holistic, person-centred, and concerned about social integration rather than disease or disability. Moreover, there is a mass of evidence showing it benefits patients.