About Rehabilitation Matters
Last updated: November 2, 2025
This page is about Rehabilitation Matters and its website. Rehabilitation Matters is currently no more than the domain name of my website. The site aims to promote a better understanding of rehabilitation, improve rehabilitation practices, disseminate research and other relevant information, and increase access to quality rehabilitation for all patients who need it. It will provide education for anyone, specialist rehabilitation knowledge and skills to any health or social care professional, and advocate for better organisation and resourcing of rehabilitation services. As the strap line says, this site is All about rehabilitation, About all rehabilitation.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Websites evolve – or, at least, this one has since I began it on November 12, 2021. Back then, I had no experience in creating websites and no definite purpose beyond the enjoyment that comes with any new project.
I have recently reflected on my goals and rewritten the page on the purpose of this site.
This page covers more mundane matters than might and should concern any reader: who am I, the author? Is Rehabilitation Matters an independent organisation, separate from the site? What commercial interests influence content?
History of Rehabilitation Matters.
Late on November 10, 2021, I learned that I had not succeeded in securing a national post in rehabilitation medicine, one I had been thinking about and planning for, and hoped would keep me busy. The next day was busy, but in the evening, I started considering what I would do. Early in the morning, around 02.00 hours, I thought of setting up a website about rehabilitation. I had never set up a website and had no idea how to do it, so this seemed an exciting challenge to keep me busy. It is interesting, still a challenge, and keeps me alive.
The name came to me at the same time, as a play on words. The website would cover rehabilitation matters. I was setting it up because I had been convinced for years that rehabilitation does matter.
I spent the rest of Thursday and most of Friday learning how to register a domain name and set up a website. And the rest is history!
Over the last four years, I have improved my knowledge and skills, rewritten and remodelled the site several times, had many failures, and generally been kept very busy! I have recently had my 100,000th viewing, and I have had 65,000 visitors, or so I am told.
Authorship.
The content is mainly written or curated by me, Derick Wade.
I am a doctor who has been interested in rehabilitation since 1980. I have experience in most aspects of rehabilitation, including clinical work with patients, managing services, advising on local and national policies, conducting research, providing education, and delivering training. Additionally, I have occasionally received rehabilitation services.
Although I retired from my full-time NHS consultant post in Oxford on 30 September 2016, I have continued to engage in clinical and academic work. Anyone interested in my scholarly activities can view my Google Scholar profile. I edited the rehabilitation journal Clinical Rehabilitation from 1994 to 2021, and I continue to undertake some editorial work for the Editor-in-Chief, Professor Avril Drummond.
I refer to my own work, but I also extensively cite other publications. I, naturally, will refer to Clinical Rehabilitation, but I gain no benefit from that.
Although I write most of the content, I often draw on work published by others, questions asked of me, or other work-related events that spark my interest. For example, a blog post on “Multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, or transdisciplinary?” was my response to an email, and another on “A model of patient-centred rehabilitation” was my interpretation of an article I read. I always indicate when material comes from other publications.
I also welcome contributions from others, which I will edit with the author’s agreement.
Relevant financial and other interests.
I, Derick Wade, am the owner of the site and cover all expenses. I do not receive any direct financial benefit, and there is little chance of receiving any indirect monetary payment. There is no advertising. When I mention any conference or other educational opportunity, it is because I am interested and believe it is worthwhile, and I am not paid or rewarded in any way.
My primary, open, and declared interest is to enhance the understanding of, knowledge about, and skills in delivering rehabilitation to patients. This is not a commercial website.
No organisation or person provides any financial or other supporting resources.
The only significant interest is that I will often refer to articles and other publications I have authored myself or with others. There is no financial gain, and I am not dependent on being cited.
Values and principles
The values that guide all content are:
- Respect for others always, acknowledging the presence and validity of differences;
- Justice and equity, ensuring fairness in the allocation of any resource and in allowing people to react to anything I say.
- Honesty and openness, not knowingly omitting relevant information or giving false information;
- Clarity in writing and presenting arguments or facts;
- Evidence is to be used when it is available and provided without bias.
The principles of rehabilitation that guide my writing are to:
- put the patient at the centre, not dominant but always the primary concern
- consider the patient in their context, especially their social relationships, their life narrative to this point, and the possible future narrative.
- avoid imposing professional views and jargon,
- acknowledge how much is unknown or uncertain,
- avoid presenting dogma and accepting or reinforcing stigma
- accept our twin professional responsibilities to individual patients and the population of patients
Personal aspiration
I aspire to foster a multi-professional, national rehabilitation association or college of patients and professionals. This would represent rehabilitation interests to the government, healthcare commissioners and providers, insurance companies and any other person or group. It would set standards for professionals’ rehabilitation knowledge, services, and clinical practice. It would develop a rehabilitation qualification for all professionals; currently, only doctors can do this.
