Rehabilitation

Assumption: Base of Rehabilitation 

 

          “Each human being has inherent strength & worth and have her/his right to be expert in her/his own health care”.

 

Meaning-cum-Definition  

          To help someone to get back to normal life.

          Resilience with external support (Journey from dependency to independence)

          A set of interventions designed to optimize functioning and reduce disability in individuals with health conditions in interaction with their environment (WHO).

          A care that helps the individual to regain the lost ground in psychological and physical domain.

 

Rehabilitation For Whom 

          Individuals who lost ability to function normally or who suffered minimum one problem out of the following: -

(i)       Post injury (burns, fracture), surgery, trauma (accident), disease, illness.

(ii)      Under gone jail term.

(iii)     Post psychotherapy.

(iv)     Brain stroke or heart attack.

(v)      Genetic disorders or birth defects.

(vi)     Individual suffering from developmental disabilities.

(vii)    Restricted functional ability due to advanced age.

(viii) Space travelers who spent long time in space.

 

Brief Introduction   

          It’s a kind of psycho-socio-physical functional restoration or recovery process. In this process the individual is being made aware, educated and made able to do day-to-day activities for themselves.  This way individual is prepared to adapt and adjust to the environment and new demands of life. It may require change in life style of the client. Rehabilitation attempts to make the individual accept the changes.

 

Objectives

(i)       Restoration of normal or near normal functionality.

(ii)      Circumvention of further complications.

(iii)     Dependency to independence.

(iv)  Development of optimistic and positivistic perspective.

(v)      Enhancing the wellbeing through adjustment and adaptation.

 

Key Features   

(i)       It promotes good health, prevents disease, helps in treatment and palliative care.

(ii)      Enables an individual’s participation and quality contribution in all possible areas.

(iii)     Facilitates living meaningful life (to overcome difficulties of all kind) and restores confidence.

(iv)     It is gender and age neutral.

(v)      It’s a person-centric exercise, meaning that the interventions and approach selected for each individual are unique & depends on their goals & preferences.

(vi)     Rehabilitation is preparing the client for better self-management and self-efficacy.

(vii)    In rehabilitation individual is treated not the disease or injury.

 

Principles of Rehabilitation     

Mauk (2012) described the following principles of rehabilitation

 

(i)       Promote Adaptation, Not Just Recovery

(ii)      Emphasizing Ability

(iii)     Treat the Client as a Whole Person

(iv)     Disability Affects the Entire Family

 

Important Rehabilitation Issues

(i)       Cognitive-behavioural (Neuropsychological) Rehabilitation

(ii)      Family-centered and Community-based Rehabilitation

(iii)     Competencies and Certification

(i)      Cognitive Behavioural (Neuropsychological) Rehabilitation – CBR is based on Alexander Luria’s (1963) research. CBR is specifically for the patients who suffers from brain injury. It takes almost 12 to 24 months for the brain to reorganizes itself and resume normal functioning. During this period individual requires CBR. It includes memory training, metacognitive skills, mnemonic strategies, intervention for managing irrational thinking, problem solving skills, anger management and introduction of new thought methods and strategies for better performance.  

(ii)     Family-centered and Community-based Rehabilitation – It is based on the assumption that disability is a social construct. Rehabilitation is not a dyadic process rather it needs involvement of family and community members for successful outcomes. It underlies the role of human environment in implementing much needed rehabilitation strategies. It is helpful for children, adolescents or the individuals who are confined to the homes for most part of the day. It has immense therapeutic effect on the client because all play an active role in rehabilitation program. 

(iii)    Competencies and Certification – The experienced and rehabilitation experts are required to prevent malpractice, delivery of substandard services and unethical treatment to the people with disability. The professionals must be certified for delivery of rehabilitation programs because certification establishes the credentials and the competence. The Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) established in 1986 is the apex body on rehabilitation in India. It regulates the training programs for professionals and monitors rehabilitation related activities.

 

Future Perspective  

          World Health Organization says that “The need for rehabilitation worldwide is predicted to increase due to changes in the health and characteristics of the population. For example, people are living longer, but with more chronic disease & disability”.

 

References:

1.       http://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/40004/1/Unit-                    5.pdf.

2.       https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/rehabilitation.

 

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