Rehabilitation psychology: meeting the needs of individuals with acquired disabilities in Ireland

Purpose. 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.

Rationale. 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.

Conclusion. 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).