Showing papers on "Physical disability published in 1976"

Assessment of the psychosocial outcome of severe head injury

Abstract: Increasing numbers of those concerned with the primary treatment and later care of individuals who sustain head injuries are becoming interested in the development of methods for assessing the outcome of severe brain damage. In the past such methods seldom involved balanced consideration of the physical, mental and social sequelae of injury. Moreover rehabilitation, which should involve restoration of patients to their fullest physical, mental and social capability, is often biased towards the improvement of physical disability alone. The long lasting and chronically disabling mental changes which occur so frequently, and which tend to cause the greatest difficulties for patients in terms of their reintegration into society, usually receive scant attention.

Behavioral techniques and orthopedic disability: a review

Abstract: A review of the literature on the use of behavior modification techniques in the re­ habilitation of orthopedic disability is presented. The literature is divided into articles of three types: the theoretical-conceptual overview, the proselytizing articles, and the research/ case studies. The contribution that the behavioral orientations have made to the re­ habilitation of orthopedic disability, as well as the quality of the endeavor is evaluated. Directions for further investigations and applications are suggested. The increasing acceptance of the importance of psychological factors in physical medicine (Jaco, 1958) has opened many new fields of inquiry for the psychologist. Although the entry of psychologists into the numerous medical specialties is not without varying degrees of resistance, one field which has welcomed psychological alliance is that of the medical re­ habilitation of physical disability and chronic illness. Wright's (1960) volume on the psychological aspects of disability repre­ sents an early account of psychological factors in medical rehabilitation. Since that time, there has been a considerable shift in the approach to human behavior resulting from the development and acceptance of more behavioral orientations. Due in large part to an unacceptance of a medical model of human behavior (especially maladjustive behavior), many behaviorists have been less than enthusiastic about involvement with medi­ cally related endeavors. However, there is now evidence that this segre­ gation is relaxing (Agras, 1971), and behavioral approaches are becoming increasingly important in the physical medicine management of the re­ habilitation of the physically disabled. The earliest formalized consideration given to the relevance of learning principles for the rehabilitation of disability was at the Miami Conference