Book Review |
Enabling Recovery: The Principles and Practice of Rehabilitation Psychiatry
Edited by G. Roberts et al. Published by Gaskell, 2006. ISBN 1904671306. 405 pages. Price: £25.00.
The key aim of this book's editorial team of four UK psychiatrists was to summarize the current state of psychiatric rehabilitation services. It primarily targets psychiatrists and immediately associated specialties.
It concentrates on those with greatest psychiatric need, i.e. for whom avoidance of hospital re-admission is the main priority, with return to work ranking lower in importance. Of course these two are not mutually exclusive, but occupational considerations are understandably constrained. However, to the editors' credit, occupational aspects are accorded one of the 26 chapters. Unfortunately, this chapter gives an account which mainly focuses on theoretical and historical aspects, which terminate at The Disability Discrimination Act. The latter is covered by just one sentence; an earlier chapter gives a more insightful single paragraph treatment of the DDA, but I could find no other mention of it in the book.
But nevertheless it does provide thought provoking, and very informative chapters on many topics in which occupational health practitioners are naturally interested. These include occupationally ‘hot’ topics such as CBT, and cognitive rehabilitation, plus several other chapters on therapeutic aspects of rehabilitation. Specific chapters on acquired head injury and learning disability are also of high relevance to us.
Hence, it is not a book that will provide day-to-day succour to the jobbing occupational health practitioner. But clearly it was never intended to, and if accepted for what it is, it does provide some very useful insights (and a lot of information, using boxed summaries) about how psychiatrists currently regard their rehabilitative role. Perhaps then, its greatest value to OH practitioners is in showing what is going on and what may be coming from psychiatric rehabilitative services in future.
Overall, I found that the book covers many areas of importance for occupational health practitioners, but it is not primarily aimed at us. Nevertheless, it is stimulating and informative to read.
Rating
(Borrow from library)
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