Training in rehabilitation: basics needs and considerations.

Abstract

Rehabilitation is an integral part of medicine. It includes physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy. It involves nurses, social workers, clinical and educational psychologists. It also involves resettlement into the community and to work. Each patient, whether temporarily or permanently disabled, requires a comprehensive service to meet all his needs at the appropriate time. Although there are some multidisciplinary teams providing comprehensive rehabilitation services the needs are so wide and complex that many patients do not achieve optimum rehabilitation. Most doctors believe that the best rehabilitation stems from high standards of general medical care, but many patients require care and counselling extending into social and community aspects of their lives. The clinician must be trained to understand these needs and accept the responsibility for, at least, initiating appropriate rehabilitation and resettlement procedures and thus reducing clinical and social morbidity. Rehabilitation is more than the practice of special techniques. Most therapists can contribute considerably by the assessment of potential functional capability and by exploiting residual capability by alternative techniques of activity, or the use of aids and appliances. The behavioural aspects of response to illness or injury and the patterns of recovery thus determined need to be more clearly understood and the rehabilitation programme reappraised in the light of the knowledge.