Individual, science, and society: ACRM's mission and the body politic.

Abstract

The core mission of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM)-using interdisciplinary research to "enhance the lives of persons living with disabilities"-has a role to play in the world. This mission draws on rehabilitation's origins in a strong belief system about the value of all individuals, regardless of the state of the body structure and function. This address draws on Scheper-Hughes and Lock's use of the body as a metaphor for a way in which society can think about its beliefs of the human body and disability; a body of science contributing to the evolution of rehabilitation; organizational bodies, both rehabilitation service organizations and ACRM as an organization; and the body politic, a concept used to talk about our engagement in society and its rules, policies, and priorities including research funding. In addition to highlighting excellent interdisciplinary clinical research, ACRM should continue development of a taxonomy of the rehabilitation process; it should endorse the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health as a conceptual framework for research development; it should continue increasing attention on research on participation and the environment; and it should embrace the scientific community of people engaged in evidence-based policy and health services research.