Care and compassion: part of person-centred rehabilitation, inappropriate response or a forgotten art?

AIMS OF THE PAPER: The nature of healthcare, rehabilitation and indeed even professional practice and discipline roles seems to constantly change. In particular, whilst 'care' has an accepted place in much of health service delivery, there is considerable debate about whether the concept has a place in modern rehabilitation. This paper sets out to review the concept and pose questions about the nature of caring in rehabilitation. KEY FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS: In order to highlight different potential understandings, this paper reviews the origins of healthcare traditions and care. We explore ethical humanistic and political aspects of caring and investigate what facilitates and obstructs adequate care. Finally we examine what the risks of caring (or not caring) are for both health professionals and their clients. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Whilst the arguments presented here suggest there is value in caring, there are very limited studies that explicitly examine its nature or indeed value, particularly in rehabilitation. As a result, the potential difference in both the experience of, and outcome, from rehabilitation in relation to the nature of care is yet to be clearly established.