What Is Rehabilitation?

Rehabilitation is the gradual process that helps in the complete or partial restoration of a person’s mental, physical or sensory functions that might have been lost as a result of disease, injury, surgery, or as a side effect of treatment. It involves restoring a person’s health to the previous state of health.

What is a Rehabilitation Center?

This is a licensed facility that provides specialized care that involves a number of certified medical professionals in order to quicken the recovery rate of the individuals. Licensed Medical experts involved in the process of rehabilitation are:

• A Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) specialist, otherwise known as a physiatrist
• A medical doctor
• A nurse
• A speech-language pathologist
• An occupational therapist
• A physical therapist
• Psychologists
• Social workers
• Exercise physiologists

Rehabilitation facilities combine and organize the application of the clinical, social and vocational approach to restoring the health of an individual.

What Are the Aims of Rehabilitation?

Based on a World Report on Disability, Rehqbilitation is defined as the collective steps taken to help individuals that suffer from, or are likely to experience some form of disability, to attain and sustain a maximal functioning in their interaction with their environment

– WHO 2011.

This definition by WHO gives a brief and general overview of the objectives of rehabilitation, rehabilitation also aims to

• Ease the process of recovery from injury, illnesses or even surgery
• Improve the quality of life and restore previous functions
• Reduce the adverse effects of debilitating conditions

What Types of Rehabilitation Are There?

There are various types of rehabilitation, they include:

1. Physical Therapy
   Physical therapy aims to improve movement, balance, functional activity and muscle power and muscle coordination in the event of any musculoskeletal or neurological deficits that might be caused as a result of:
   • Spinal cord injury
   • Parkinson’s disease
   • Stroke
   • Amputation
   • Traumatic brain injury
   • Osteoarthritis and osteoporosis associated with old age
   • Cancer rehabilitation
   • Sports-related injuries
2. Occupational Therapy
   Occupational therapy involves a wide range of movement that aims to restore an individual’s ability to perform daily movements, that could either involve activities of daily living (ADL) such as bathing, eating, grooming, and Instrumental activities of daily living such a cleaning, gardening, and a few household chores. This form of therapy teaches the individuals affected new ways of carrying out essential daily activities through the use of materials and equipment. Conditions such as brain injury, cerebral palsy, and autism might require the services of an occupational therapist.
3. Speech Therapy
   Speech Therapy focuses on the mental and physical features of communication, that might manifest as speech difficulties, breathing and swallowing difficulties, difficulties in reading or writing. Conditions that would benefit from speech therapy include autism, acute stroke.
4. Cognitive Therapy
   This form of rehabilitation tasks the patient to exert thinking effort, develop their memories.

What Services Rehabilitation Center offers?

• Physical Therapy to restore motion and co-ordination
• Psychological counseling- that might improve mental health
• Speech-language therapy- to enhance speech, comprehension, reading, writing, and respiration.
• Treatment of pain
• Therapy after surgery- such as orthopedic and cardiac surgeries
• Recreational Therapy – engaging in leisurely activities like games, creative drawing or even sculpting, craft making.

When Is It Advisable to Get Medical Rehabilitation?

This would be discussed according to some specific disorder:

• In the event of a stroke, medical rehabilitation should be sought as soon as possible to prevent the possibility of long-term damage.
• In the case of treatments such as breast cancer treatments, as soon as it becomes difficult to carry out your usual daily activities, It is advisable to start searching for the possible options for medical rehabilitation immediately.
• For geriatric rehabilitation, that is, in old age, might include speech, occupational and physical therapy due to worsening diseases of the old age such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, it is important to register at a rehabilitation facility as early as possible to improve the quality of life.

How to Choose a Rehabilitation Center?

There are a number of factors to consider before locating a rehabilitation center for your loved ones.

• The first thing to consider is the type of rehabilitation required by the individual.
• Qualifications or certifications of the medical professionals. You would not want to leave your relatives in the hands of untrained medical personnel, so you have to confirm this before registering your loved ones at a particular rehabilitation facility.
• Most suitable rehabilitation arrangement. Some rehabilitation facilities offer inpatient, outpatient, or even home care. Inpatient care is when the patient he admitted under the instruction of a doctor. Outpatient care means that there is no admission to the hospital. Home care means that the doctor visits the patient at the patient’s place of residence for their sessions.
• Treatment modalities. You might want to confirm the duration of the physical therapy, an ideal session should held five times each week for a minimum of 2 hours, anything less is not effective enough.

What Are the Benefits of a Medically Supervised Rehabilitation Program?

There are tremendous benefits of a supervised medical rehabilitation:

• It promotes self-reliance in the long run, the individual learns how to carry out daily activities on their own, without the help of others.
• It helps to boost the individual’s self-esteem since they can now do the things they formerly couldn’t do.
• Rehabilitation exercises enhance the circulatory system.
• Rehabilitation also enhances mental performance.

What Are Rehabilitation Costs?

Usually, the cost if rehabilitation is determined by:

• Health condition before hospital admission
• Period of admission in acute hospital
• Long-term or short-term insurance policy
• Type of facility

Generally, about $16,357 is spent by patients on Medicare; whereas a patient in the Blue Cross/Blue Shield spend $31,000

FAQ

• Which social activity would participants in a convalescent home take part in?
  Most activities are designed to promote social interaction. Participants are allowed to engage in simple games, crafts or discussions within the premises of the rehabilitation facility or outside the premises, under supervised care.
• Which Legal Documents are required before Entering a convalescent rehabilitation?
  In preparing for an unforeseen emergency, it is advisable to make previous preparations for documents like Living Will or Do Not Resuscitate order.
• What are the rights of convalescent rehabilitation home residents?
  Participants have the freedom against any verbal, physical or sexual harassment. Chemical or Physical restraints are prohibited, except when prescribed by the doctor, with an explanation of the prescription reason.
• Does Insurance Cover It?
  Medicare insurance plans are usually short-term, for q period of about 100 days. Insurance camera does not even cover intense physical therapy or occupational therapy, so they might have to be funded individually.