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Author
of disability as an outcome of an interaction between
health conditions and impairments that are part of
the universal human condition, and the physical, at-
titudinal and social environment that disadvantages
some individuals far more than others. In this way,
rehabilitation professionals can be part of the social
response to the needs of individuals whose physical
lives are fragile and in need of protection, while at
the same time recognizing that the ultimate goal of
person-centred care should be to enhance the opp-
ortunities of persons with disabilities to experience
autonomy and full social inclusion and participation
in all areas of life.
Summary: the medical rehabilitation profession po-
tentially embodies the resolution of the two disabilities:
a recognition of universal human frailty as well as the
need to optimize functioning, but also to contribute to
the social task of removing physical, attitudinal and
social barriers that, in the real lives of persons with disa-
bilities, threaten to limit their participation in society.
The authors would like to thank the contributors to this editorial,
specifically Jorge Lains (Centro de Medicina de Reabilitação da
Região Centro, Tocha, Portugal), Xanthi Michail (University of
West Attica, Athens, Greece), Hendrik Jan Stam (Department
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
www.medicaljournals.se/jrm
of Rehabilitation Medicine, University Hospital Erasmus MC,
Rotterdam, The Netherlands), Gerold Stucki (Department of
Health Sciences and Health Policy, University of Lucerne,
Lucerne, Switzerland and Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil,
Switzerland), and Mauro Zampolini (Department of Rehabilita-
tion, USL Umbria 2, Foligno Hospital, Foligno, Italy). The aut-
hors also thank Cristiana Baffone (Swiss Paraplegic Research,
Nottwil, Switzerland) for her support in the preparation of the
manuscript.
REFERENCES
1. Bickenbach J, Rubinelli S, Stucki G. Being a person with
disabilities or experiencing disability: two perspectives
on the social response to disability. J Rehabil Med 2017;
49: 543–549.
2. McNamara A. Guillain-Barré Syndrome – A patient’s ex-
perience. In: Stam HJ, Buyruk HM, editors. Acute Medical
Rehabilitation. Vol. 1. Bodrum, Turkey: VitalMed Medical
Book Publishing; 2012, p. 1473-1511.
Accepted Dec 11, 2018; Epub ahead of print Jan 22, 2019
Angela McNamara, MB, FRCP 1 , Brigitte Perrouin-Verbe,
MD 2 and Jerome Bickenbach, LLB, PhD 3,4
From the 1 Mater University & National Rehabilitation Hos-
pitals, Dublin, Ireland, 2 Hôpital Saint Jacques, CHU Nantes,
Nantes, France, 3 Department of Health Sciences and Health
Policy, University of Lucerne, Lucerne and 4 Swiss Paraplegic
Research (SPF), Nottwil, Switzerland.
E-mail: [email protected]