It gives us great pleasure to write the preface to this book, the second in the series of monographs produced by the European Academy of Rehabilitation Medicine. No part of medicine, no clinical intervention, is complete without thinking about its effect on the person's life and the quality thereof. One of the most powerful determinants of this is work; a source not only of income, but of satisfaction and a sense of purpose and worth. The Academy, founded in 1969, is composed of senior European doctors spec- lising in Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine. It meets regularly to discuss matters of importance in the field, including teaching, research and ethical matters. It recognises that the ability of the speciality and of related ones to decrease dependency and increase autonomy and quality of life needs to be better known. Hence the production of these monographs. They will help readers access a vast amount of literature on the practice of rehabilitation and its effectiveness. They should be particularly useful to young doctors preparing for the European Boards certification in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine as they are authoritative and cover subjects in depth. Topics covered in the series range from basic sciences to the most applied areas.

Inhalt

Vocational Rehabilitation: Definition and Applications.- Vocational rehabilitation.- The point of view of the insurance company.- Disability as a process.- Inability to work, disability and vocational rehabilitation: does the general practitioner have a role to play in these processes?.- Cultural aspects of vocational rehabilitation processes.- Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE).- Work rehabilitation programs: work hardening and work conditioning.- Vocational rehabilitation and low back pain.- Vocational rehabilitation in musculo-skeletal disorders - with examples mainly from the neck and shoulder region.- Return to work after a traumatic brain injury: a difficult challenge.- Vocational rehabilitation and spinal cord injuries.- Vocational rehabilitation and pulmonary programs.- Cardiac rehabilitation and vocational reintegration.- Vocational integration in cancer rehabilitation.- Some Examples of Vocational Rehabilitation Management in Europe.- Vocational rehabilitation in Austria.-Social security and vocational rehabilitation: the Belgian model.- Vocational rehabilitation: the British model.- Vocational rehabilitation in Finland.- The French model of vocational rehabilitation.- Vocational rehabilitation and participation in working life: the German model.- Vocational rehabilitation: the Greek model.- Vocational rehabilitation: the Italian model.- Vocational rehabilitation: the Irish model.- Vocational rehabilitation in the Netherlands.- Vocational rehabilitation: the Spanish model.- Vocational rehabilitation: the Swedish model.- Vocational rehabilitation: the Swiss model.