Posts in this category discuss some aspect of service design, delivery or change. Most will relate to the UK, unsurprisingly, but it is probable that similar considerations and issues arise in most countries.
In 2007 Peter Halligan and I asked, “Is it time to rehabilitate convalescence?”. No one answered until, in 2022, Gavin Francis also challenged healthcare practice in his book, “Recovery, the lost art of convalescence.” He argues that “from time to time, we all need to learn the art of convalescence”. The medical literature, however, publishes […]
Convalescence, recovery, and rehabilitation Read More »
In 1980 I started a three-year project, a large (n = 700+) controlled clinical trial investigating whether a community stroke rehabilitation team would reduce the use of hospital resources. My results found no effect. Twenty years later, I was still interested in community rehabilitation and, with Pam Enderby, published the results of a survey she
Community Rehabilitation Read More »
First published: July 20, 2022 Last modified: July 20, 2022 What is a person’s ‘Rehabilitation Potential’? Often this question is asked by one clinician of another about a patient. Still, there is a second interpretation, “What do we mean by Rehabilitation Potential when we ask that question?” I will discuss these questions, but before doing
Rehabilitation potential Read More »
First published: March 14, 2022 Last updated: November 15, 2025 Various reviews of ‘person-centred’ care reveal the wide range of interpretations of this attractive but deceptive phrase. A group in Auckland, New Zealand, have explored the concept and, between 2014 and 2024, published data-based papers setting out a strong description. This post was first published
A model of person-centred rehabilitation Read More »
First published: December 17, 2021 Last edited: March 24, 2025 Is this patient ready for discharge? Care staff, managers, and sometimes the patient themselves must ask this question endlessly. In this blog post, I will argue that it is the wrong question and that we fail to provide the best care to our patients by
Ready for discharge? Read More »
Rehabilitation usually promotes itself as holistic, considering the patient as a whole and being patient-centred. Using the biopsychosocial model should indeed enforce a holistic, patient-centred approach. (here) Nevertheless, there are counter-forces at play, forces that we sometimes encourage. The primary countervailing power is a desire to categorise, classify, and develop small specialise treatment programmes. For
Rehabilitation is holistic, or is it? Read More »
Teams use many different words to describe themselves. A group recently asked me to help them decide whether they are a multidisciplinary or an interdisciplinary team. The background information provided perfectly illustrated the difficulty in defining the team, as illustrated in this figure. (here) The question prompted me to write this blog post to show
Multidisciplinary, Interdisciplinary, or Transdisciplinary? Read More »
Today, 18th July 2021, the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), one of the major health research funding bodies in the UK announced £19.6M had been allocated to research into the late effects of Covid-19 infection (here), commonly known as Long Covid. This is in addition to £18.5 million allocated in February (here), funding
Rehabilitation research news Read More »
On Friday, 2nd July 2021 (at 05.00 hrs), I participated in a debate organised by Professor Barbara Wilson and hosted virtually in Melbourne, Australia. The discussion concerned the use of goal attainment scaling (GAS). Two speakers supported its use clinically, in audit, and in research; two opposed it. At the outset, only 4% of listeners
Goal attainment scaling. Read More »
One December 18th 2020 the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published its guidance on managing the long-term effects of COVID-19. (here) On re-reading it, they are in reality suggesting that everyone should have access to “integrated, multidisciplinary rehabilitation services“. They also state (correctly) that one cannot know who has actually had
NICE – post-Covid guide Read More »
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