Looking for a ‘cure’: negotiating ‘walking’ in a Turkish rehabilitation hospital

Abstract

This article explores discourses surrounding 'walking' in a Turkish rehabilitation hospital and their impact on in-hospital relationships, patients' attitudes towards disability, and constructions of 'bodily normality' . Interviews were conducted with 29 patients, 11 medical personnel, and two non-medical personnel.

Theorising rehabilitation: Actors and parameters shaping normality, liminality and depersonalisation in a UK hospital

“…These include how ideology might operate in practice, and whether rights‐based rehabilitation might promote disability equality (Shakespeare et al, 2018). Thus, in spite of the growing interest in the field (Arntzen et al, 2015; Bezmez, 2016; Crisp, 2000), the everyday functioning of rehabilitation and its theory remain under‐researched.…”

Theorising everyday life after acquired brain injury

“…Walking is an example of an under-theorised and taken-for-granted 'correct' way of mobilising (Bezmez 2016). The 'normality' of walking is decided with no appreciation of the daily activities of individual people, thus externally imposing an ideology of how things should be.…”

Rehabilitation as a Disability Equality Issue: A Conceptual Shift for Disability Studies?

“…While there may be good reasons for positioning rehabilitation in this way, this has also meant that, as a lived experience, it is under-researched and neglected (Shakespeare, 2014). With some notable exceptions (e.g., Bevan, 2014;Bezmez, 2016;Crisp, 2000;Hammell, 2006;Swart & Horton, 2015), rehabilitation research has therefore, by default remained the preserve of the rehabilitation sciences. This is reflected in our analysis of recent papers (January 2011 to December 2015) published in the four leading disability studies journals (Disability and Society, Alter, Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, Disability Studies Quarterly).…”

“…However, this article appears unique within the cerebral palsy literature in questioning received ideas about rehabilitation. Other important insights in this literature include: an emphasis on agency rather than autonomy, which might help rehabilitation patients to adjust to their new situation and to be more comfortable with themselves ( Van de Velde et al, 2012; see also Bezmez, 2016;Papadimitriou, 2008). The experience of psychological loss associated with acquired impairment should not be underestimated (Clifton, 2014).…”