Abstract

In the world of medical treatment, the Human beingshuman body has gradually become so dissociated from the environment in which it lives and functions that doctors have come to consider the body as the sole and ultimate focus of intervention; it has become normal to isolate the body from its environment. Recently, however, attitudes have shifted somewhat, in an attempt to rehabilitate the contextual role of the environment as the agent of determinative value for the individual living within it. We take an even more radical view, i.e., not only is the environment a fundamental element to be taken into account when we study the individual associated with it, but in fact the environment is essential in shaping his or her existence. In other words, the body and the environment are extensions, or continuations, of one another. Our conceptual framework, in the context of this study, is the notion of “affordances,” which link the body and the environment via an “invitation to act.” As we outline this concept, we will strive to make it as resonant as possible by describing, and then generalizing, the example of people living with a disability. It will become clear that a precise reassessment and rearrangement of the entire environment are required in order that the individual’s quality of life can improve.