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

What are the hallmarks of anthroposophic caregiving methodology that are needed to provide “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 are determined, 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 practiced in dozens of countries around the world. Developed from research by Rudolf Steiner and the experiences of numerous coworkers over decades, this methodology is described alongside its scientific basis and ethical principles. Good Care is an ideal handbook for healthcare givers, parents, and caretakers, explaining how anthroposophic care is interpreted and translated into quality daily practice.

Contributions 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.”

This book is a translation from Dutch of Goede zorg: Ethische en methodische aspecten: Een antroposofische benadering van kinder- en jeugdpsychiatrie en zorg voor mensen met ontwikkelingsstoornissen (Uitgeverij Christofoor, 2005)

Pim Blomaard trained as a philosopher. He obtained his PhD with a dissertation on the personal relationship as the core of the guidance of people with intellectual disabilities. He worked for many years as managing director of anthroposophic assistance for the disabled. He is currently a researcher with the Free University of Amsterdam and a consultant at the Raphaëlstichting in the field of anthroposophic identity development.

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.

Willem De Koning is a former manager-director of Vrije School Mareland in Leiden South Holland.

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.