Rehabilitation and the general practitioner.

As a doctor you are involved in the rehabilitation of those suffering from chronic or permanent disabling problems. Rehabilitation is not a specialized technique, not a method, not even a principle but is a philosophy in action. The philosophy of total care of your patient as well as the continuing care for him. The broad aim or goal of rehabilitation is to correct in so far as is possible your patient' s problem (whether it be physical, mental or social) and in addition to continue to help him by treatment, training, education and encouragement to cope with the residual uncorrectable portion of his problem and his attitude toward it in order that his life can be changed from one that is empty to one that is full. In a sense rehabilitation is 'going the second mile', and often further with your patient and it is applicable to the disabling problems of all fields of medicine and surgery. The rehabilitation of patients with disabling disorders of the musculoskeletal system will require and deserve rehabilitation in its broadest sense. The rehabilitation of such patients-the total care of them as well as the continuing care for them cannot be accomplished by one person; indeed the philosophy of rehabilitation requires the co-ordinated efforts of a large group or team of professional persons including the physician or surgeon, who is the captain or co-ordinator, the nurse, the physiotherapist, occupational therapist, orthoptist, prosthetist, psychologist, medical social worker, teacher and vocational adviser. Through continuing advances in all these fields rehabilitation is becoming progressively more realistic and effective and it will be of even greater importance in the future than it has been in the past.