Is doing 'good' good?: professional motives v. community needs

This paper offers a critical discussion of the goodness of fit between professional motives and community needs in the field of community-based rehabilitation (CBR). Data were drawn from the authors’ involvement in a survey of occupational therapists involved in CBR and a search of CINAHL, PsychInfo and Medline online databases for related descriptive and analytical articles.

Due to cultural differences and time constraints CBR professionals often are, and remain, ‘outsiders’ to the community they are working with. The focus of CBR is sometimes uncertain. Professional motives do not always meet community needs and good intentions do not necessarily transpire into sustainable, culturally appropriate action.

The involvement of the community in all stages of programme development and implementation is important both to ensure relevancy and build alliances with the community. CBR needs to be approached and evaluated as a unique area of professional practice.