Good Care

Good Care: Ethics and Methodology - An Anthroposophical Approach to Child- and Youth Psychiatry and Care of Persons with Developmental Disabilities

E. Baars (editor)

What are the hallmarks of anthroposophical caregiving methodology that are necessary for the provision of 'good care'? In recent decades, healthcare has undergone a transformation. Clients demand good care, and providers are expected to deliver it. Care and treatment methods are made explicit, quality standards are set and cyclical evaluations made, leading to a goal of continuous optimization. In special education and social therapy - for people with developmental disabilities and mental health issues - an effective and high-quality caregiving methodology based on anthroposophy has been developed over the past century and is currently practised in dozens of countries around the world. Developed from research by Rudolf Steiner and the experiences of numerous co-workers over decades, this methodology is described alongside its scientific basis and ethical principles. Good Care is an ideal handbook for caregivers, parents and carers, explaining how anthroposophical care is interpreted and translated into quality daily practice. Chapters include: 'Value-based caregiving - Ethical premises of anthroposophical care for persons with developmental disabilities'; 'Spiritual-psychological aspects of developmental disabilities'; 'The professional identity of the professional caregiver'; 'The caregiving process from a methodological perspective'; 'The caregiving methodology scientifically justified'.

About the authors:

Marijke Bijloo (1955 -2010) worked in various positions with Zonnehuizen for thirty-one years. From there, she founded the Two Streams Polyclinic in Zutphen, Netherlands. With her love for the children, her wisdom, and her expertise in the conventional and anthroposophic fields, she designed and led this outpatient clinic as head of treatment. Anthroposophy was a radiant source of inspiration for Marijke, a wealth she readily shared. Marijke knew best how to make the connection between Two Streams: outer forces and the spiritual content of working with and for the children and their environment.

Bernard Heldt is Vice-president at ECCE, European Co-operation in anthroposophical Curative Education and Social Therapy, and eeveloping the Surinam Vocational training course 'Centrale Opleiding Agogisch Werk' (COAW) at the Vereniging van Particuliere en Sociale Instellingen (VPSI) in Paramaribo (SR)1998 - 2006. He is also supporting the development of the vocational training course 'Formacion de Pedagogía Curativa' in Buenos Aires, as well as various vocational training courses in the field of handicap care in the Netherlands, among other endeavors. He is a board member (president, treasurer or secretary of (national) church communities, developmental aid foundations (one special for Surinam), health care associations, institutes.

Martin Niemeijer, MD (b.1947), has worked as a doctor for children with developmental problems in various settings for thirty-five years. He practiced in clinical and outpatient settings among others at the Zonnehuizen (Zeist, Netherlands) and at the Hague Childhood and Adolescent Therapeuticum. In 1981, he co-founded and became the chair of the Netherlands Association of Physicians for the Mentally Handicapped. Since 1995 he has conducted scientific research in his field of expertise, initially at the Louis Bolk Institute, later for the Alliance for Curative Education, both in the Netherlands. Since 2005, he is a researcher at the Lectorate for Anthroposophic Healthcare at the Leiden University College in the Netherlands. Martin has also been a teacher for many years. In 2015 he became a member of the Bolk's Companions Group. Various scientific publications have appeared from his hand in various journals, as well as books about children with developmental disorders and on additional medical, pedagogical, and psychological assessment methods for the work with these children.

Philip Mees was born in Holland and has lived in the United States since 1969. He is a retired bank officer and was for many years a trustee of the Rudolf Steiner Foundation (RSF Social Finance, San Francisco CA). He is a long-time student of Rudolf Steiner's work and one of his particular interests is the evolution of human consciousness through the ages as expressed in art, as well as in human actions in everyday life today. His principal retirement occupation is translating Dutch anthroposophical books, in which his ably assisted by his wife Linda Connell. Linda and he live in Glendale CA.

Erik W. Baars, MD, MSc, PhD, is a senior-researcher Healthcare (Louis Bolk Institute) and a professor of Anthroposophic Medicine (University of Applied Sciences, Leiden, The Netherlands).
His research interests include clinical studies, health promotion, holism-reductionism, Integrative Medicine, concept and methodology development. Erik Baars published ca 205 papers, articles, book chapters and monographs. Together with profesoor Peter Kooreman (Tilburg University, health economics), he received the "Excellence in Integrative Medicine Research Award" (category "clinical research") provided by the European Society of Integrative Medicine for the article 'Patients whose GP knows complementary medicine tend to have lower costs and live longer' in the European Journal of Health Economics (Kooreman and Baars, 2011).

Currently Prof. Baars is project leader of an international research project reviewing the contribution of anthroposophic medicine and complementary medicine to the treatment of infections and solving the problem of antibiotic resistance.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Temple Lodge (24 May 2024)
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 236 pages
ISBN: ‎ 978-1915776150