Introduction:
According to the population, health system, and challenges of rehabilitation, rehabilitation needs vary among world countries. Every country should identify its needs and priorities and develop a rehabilitation plan. The outcome of the rehabilitation plan should increase the quality and accessibility of rehabilitation.
What Is Rehabilitation?
Rehabilitation means interventions to optimize functioning and reduce disabilities in individuals with certain health conditions. It is the care that can help you recover and improve your abilities to perform daily tasks that have been lost due to a disease or injury.
What Are the Types of Rehabilitation?
There are seven rehabilitation therapies. They include
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Cognitive rehabilitation.
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Pharmaco rehabilitation.
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Physical therapy.
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Recreational therapy.
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Speech and language therapy.
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Occupational therapy.
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Vocational rehabilitation.
What Is the Difference Between Rehabilitation and Habilitation?
Rehabilitation is physiologically centered and aims to reacquisition skills that an independent individual loses due to impairment. Habilitation refers to deformities since infancy or birth that are developmentally centered.
What Is Rehabilitation in the Health System?
Rehabilitation in the health system is a four-phase process wherein the following occur. This includes:
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Situation Assessment: Systematic assessment of the situation.
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Strategic Planning: Guidance for rehabilitation and strategic planning.
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Development of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Review Process: Framework.
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Implementation of the Plan: Action on rehabilitation.
This process ultimately strengthens the health system, with a focus on rehabilitation.
What Is the Aim of Rehabilitation?
Rehabilitation aims to optimize functioning and reduce disability in individuals dealing with certain health conditions (acute or chronic disease, disorder, trauma, or injury). A health condition may include pregnancy, aging, congenital anomalies, genetic predisposition, and stress. Rehabilitation maximizes individuals' ability to work, learn, and live with their utmost potential. Rehabilitation reduces functional difficulties and improves the quality of life.
What Is the Need for Rehabilitation in the Health System?
The world faces new challenges daily regarding population health, aging, the number of people living with non-communicable diseases, etc. Therefore, policymakers should invest in health services that improve the functioning and well-being of individuals. A subsequent rise in the number of years lived with disability, and several disabling conditions evolved demand for rehabilitation that is often under-resourced, underdeveloped, and undervalued. In many parts of the world, the rehabilitation workforce size is insufficient. As a result, the number of trained professionals required to meet service demands is significantly less than what is needed.
Factors contributing to such an unmet need for rehabilitation include:
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Poor accessibility.
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Transportation barriers.
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Expensive expenses.
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Long waiting hours.
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Lack of awareness.
Rehabilitation is not restricted to a particular group. It includes people with disabilities and those with long-term impairments. In addition, it is beneficial to a vast group, such as those who had a heart attack those with mental health issues, or some musculoskeletal conditions. Rehabilitation plays a crucial role in maximizing health care services (trauma, surgical procedures, non-communicable disease, and its management.), saving the cost of treatment, reducing hospitalization time, and decreasing readmission. Rehabilitation is a part of health coverage globally and should be added to the package of essential services.
What Are the Steps Taken by the World Health Organization to Strengthen Rehabilitation?
On February 7, 2017, the World Health Organization issued Rehabilitation 2030 to strengthen rehabilitation.
The actions include:
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Improving rehabilitation governance and investment.
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Establishing a high-quality rehabilitation workforce.
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Enhancing rehabilitation data collection.
These services make it possible for people to live long and well. As the population ages, the demand for rehabilitation grows due to increased cases of non-communicable diseases and injuries. Thus, strengthening rehabilitation in the healthcare system is becoming more critical.
Why Is There a Growing Need to Strengthen Rehabilitation?
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Strengthening rehabilitation in the healthcare system is required to provide high-quality and affordable services in low- and middle-income countries. Such strengthening will ensure respect for human rights and improve health by providing social and economic benefits.
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Rehabilitation services benefit the health of the community, individuals, society, and national economies. Investing in rehabilitation enhances individuals' capacity by allowing those with a health condition to achieve optimal functioning, improve health, and participate in various activities such as education or work. Thus, it overall enhances economic productivity.
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For children, it optimizes development and enables them to participate in education, community activities, and work in later years.
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Rehabilitation can shorten the duration of hospital administration, prevent readmission, and allow people to live longer in their homes.
What Are the Reasons Behind Recommendations for Rehabilitation?
The recommendation for rehabilitation is essential to developing, implementing, and monitoring policies and promoting access to all such services. The recommendations also directly support countries in implementing the strategic plan's objectives, such as strengthening and extending rehabilitation, assistive technology, assistance, support services, habilitation, and community-based rehabilitation.
Limited information is available for countries to strengthen health system rehabilitation and respond to growing population demand. These recommendations address such information and provide system-level recommendations for improving rehabilitation service delivery. These recommendations are targeted at government bodies, policymakers, and those involved in workforce and training. The recommendation focuses on service delivery and financial management, promoting equitable access to affordable services.
On Which Principles Are Recommendations for Rehabilitation Based?
Each recommendation is based on population, intervention, comparison, and outcome (PICO) questions. The population is anybody who seeks rehabilitation, and outcomes include better quality of services, accessible and equal access, cost-saving, public-centered care, and improved health.
The recommendations for rehabilitation are based on several overarching principles that can be used in policy-making, planning suggestions, and implementation.
The principles are as follows:
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Person-Centered Care: Rehabilitation contributes to comprehensive person-centered care. It is an integrated health service approach that ensures people understand their full potential.
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Continuum of Care: Rehabilitation includes prevention and care in the acute phase of illness and maintenance, as well as care in the post-acute phase.
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Efficient Services: Rehabilitation is included in universal health coverage. All actions and policies should be made to increase the quality, accessibility, and affordability of services, thus acknowledging the importance of health services.
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Accessible and Affordable: Policies should be implemented in all population groups and geographical areas to make high-quality services affordable and accessible to everyone in need.
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Barriers: People experience various barriers to accessing rehabilitation services. Therefore, all the requirements should be addressed so that the health system can ensure equal availability of services.
Conclusion:
Rehabilitation in the health system is a must to avail of high-quality services at an affordable rate, without any barriers such as cost and transportation, equitable distribution of resources, reducing hospitalization timing, and treating the disease effectively. Government bodies and policymakers should focus on implementing strategic plans and making rehabilitation accessible to the general population.
