Johnstone Brick, Walsh Jane, Carton Simone, Fish Rosemary
Department of Health Psychology, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri 65212, USA.
Disabil Rehabil. 2008;30(9):709-15. doi: 10.1080/09638280701395708.
The current articles reviews the epidemiology of disability in Ireland, discusses the political and social factors which have increased focus on disability issues and offers training guidelines for rehabilitation psychology based on those of the APA's Rehabilitation Psychology Division.
With the growing number of individuals with acquired (vs developmental) disabilities in Ireland, there is increased recognition of the need to train psychologists to assist persons with acquired disabilities (e.g. spinal cord injury, acquired brain injury, stroke, etc.) in adjusting to their impairments, reintegrating back into their communities and reducing the long-term financial costs associated with disability.
Social and political factors suggest that the time is right to develop rehabilitation psychology as a specialty in Ireland given the increased focus on disability in Ireland, including recently passed disability legislation (i.e. 2005 Disability Bill), international events (e.g. 2003 Dublin World Special Olympics) and increases in rehabilitation training programmes (i.e. medicine; physio, occupational and speech therapy).
当前文章回顾了爱尔兰的残疾流行病学，讨论了使残疾问题更受关注的政治和社会因素，并根据美国心理学会康复心理学分会的指南提供了康复心理学培训指导方针。
随着爱尔兰后天性（相对于发育性）残疾个体数量的增加，人们越来越认识到需要培训心理学家，以帮助后天性残疾患者（如脊髓损伤、后天性脑损伤、中风等）适应其损伤，重新融入社区，并降低与残疾相关的长期经济成本。
社会和政治因素表明，鉴于爱尔兰对残疾问题的关注度不断提高，包括最近通过的残疾立法（即2005年《残疾法案》）、国际活动（如2003年都柏林世界特殊奥林匹克运动会）以及康复培训项目（即医学、物理治疗、职业治疗和言语治疗）的增加，现在是在爱尔兰将康复心理学发展为一个专业领域的合适时机。
