Family-centered Care for Children with Disabilities in Japan—the Origin and Future of the “Ryouiku”

Abstract

Family-centered care is recommended as the best practice in pediatric physiotherapy. It is a philosophy that pediatric physiotherapists should be familiar with, as it relates to the health of the child as well as the family. However, family-centered care has not been adequately taught in physiotherapy education in Japan. The term “Ryouiku” was coined in 1940 in Japan. The concept of the Ryouiku is essentially Evidence-Based Medicine and is the very essence of family-centered care with a focus on function. By re-thinking the Ryouiku and applying it to pediatric physiotherapy education in Japan, “glocal” family-centered care can be practiced in a Japanese setting.