2008-11-19
Rehabilitation to Work: some European Perspectives
The aim of this lecture is to reflect on the situation of those who have long-term medical conditions or disabilities (not necessarily severe) who are not working or at risk of not working and to discuss some recent interventions and policies which may improve the situation.
I shall survey, briefly, the beginnings of work legislation and rehabilitation to work in the UK and discuss the health implications of not working. The current problem exercising many European governments is similar in countries with different health, employment and social support structures and is that of long-term incapacity and the relative rarity of return to work from there.
These topics were considered in several presentations in the recent European Congress of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine in Bruges .Here, senior clinicians , ergonomists and trade unionists focussed on the problem from their various viewpoints .UN and EU policies and strategies were also discussed and are relevant .The recent Black Report in the UK and current UK interventions will add to the considerable body of research which comes from Sweden
Professor M. Anne Chamberlain
Emeritus Professor Of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Leeds, U.K