"Announcing the upcoming publication of a virtual special issue of Disability and Rehabilitation." Disability and Rehabilitation, 36(18), p. 1486

Frontera WR, Grimby G, Basford J, Muller D, Ring H: Publishing in physical and rehabilitation medicine. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2008;87:215–220. This article presents the panel discussion from the “Meet the Editor” symposium held at the 4th World Congress of the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine in Seoul in June 2006. It includes contributions by four Editors of international journals in rehabilitation. Some of the topics discussed are of a general nature but will provide useful guidance for the more junior scientific author. Some specific information about the four journals is also presented. Topics discussed include the reasons for publishing in peer-reviewed journals, important considerations in submitting a manuscript, the peer-review process, the effect of electronic publishing (which leads to shorter publication times and the opportunity to preview articles), and the trend toward more open access to journals. The discussion concludes that the field of physical and rehabilitation medicine will continue to expand, with an audience with a broader range of scientific and clinical interests. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) may be increasingly used as a framework in reporting. New journals may be started, particularly in regions of the world other than Europe and the United States, despite the fact that journals currently published in these regions are distributed worldwide.

Purpose : According to many researchers, rehabilitation is being prevented from developing as a distinct profession due to two major problems. First, it has been claimed that rehabilitation is in need of a professional identity and a sense of cohesion if it is to emerge as a discipline. Second, it has been recognized that there is a need for a rehabilitation framework to challenge the restorative approach that continues to dominate rehabilitation, linking it back to the medical model from which it has attempted to escape. The model of community-based rehabilitation (CBR) is offered as a model that can provide the impetus for an additional shift from the restorative tradition and unite rehabilitation workers through a cohesive framework. Method : Unfortunately, the implementation of communitybased rehabilitation in urban societies has been disappointing. The current paper is a conceptual discussion of communitybased rehabilitation that explores some potential causes of this poor implementation. Results : To some extent, the implementation failure of community-based rehabilitation can be attributed to the paradoxes that are inherent in its fundamental constructsempowerment and community inclusion. These paradoxes occur at a conceptual level, a practical level and a contextual level. Conclusions : Some solutions are offered to enable the paradigm to be implemented more fully. In particular, it is suggested that there is a need to develop useful working definitions of these constructs, favourable attitudes among rehabilitation workers and a focus on community development.

This paper critically reviews medical approaches to the identification and treatment of disability. The medical model locates disability within individuals. By contrast, this paper argues that disability can not be understood outside its social context. As such, some of the assumptions about normality and difference which underpin traditional approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of disabled people are challenged. If it is accepted that disability is located not solely within the mind or body of an individual but rather in the relationship between people with particular bodily and intellectual differences and their social environment, then greater focus may be placed on ameliorating disability through changes in social policy, culture and institutional practices.The commentaries which follow reflect differing perspectives, and are at the leading edge of current thinking in this important field of enquiry.