Rehabilitation
Health Psychology

Overview

We often come across the term ‘Rehabilitation‘ in media. This plays a major role in a person’s life after going through a severe health issue. Let us widen our views about this topic through this article.

What is Rehabilitation? 

Rehabilitation is defined as aiding a person, who suffered health conditions. This is done by reestablishing function & lessening disability. Rehabilitation helps people of any age to be self-supporting in daily tasks.

This enables them to take part in job, recreation and life roles. Assisting to succeed difficulties with thinking, communicating & other basic activities is the goal. Rehabilitation may be required by anyone in their lifetime. It might be due to injury, surgery, disease, the age factor.

Six areas of focus in this process:

  1. Anticipating, diagnosing, and treating comorbid illness & complications.
  2. Training for highest self-reliance.
  3. Helping psychosocial management and adjustment by patient and caretaker.
  4. Preventing secondary inability (promoting vocational activities, etc.)
  5. Improving quality of life for continuing disability.
  6. Preventing repetitive conditions.

Advanced Knowledge regarding this:

  • Knowledge on evaluating and treat emotional coping, mental and psychological status, and behaviour that promotes positive adaptation to disability.
  • Detailed knowledge of specific disabling conditions, family dynamics, social influences and laws and policies.

Physical Advantages

Psychological Advantages

  • Boosts self-confidence and the ability to cope emotionally.
  • Brings to the pre-injury state of mental health.

Lifestyle Advantages

  • Increased Participation & decreased dependence
  • Improved quality of life 
  • Quicker return to work can reduce financial concerns and increase social participation
  • Return to sports/exercise

Economic Advantages

  • Helps come back to work, lessens the cost of treatment.
  • Decreases the cost of mental health illness treatment
  • Decreases the costs for long length stay

Types

Orthopaedic and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation

This is a healing process to recovery. The goal is to correct musculoskeletal limitations and alleviate pain. The pain might be from trauma/illness/surgery. The Musculoskeletal system includes muscles, bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, cartilage.  Orthopaedic rehab treats all of these structures.

Neurological Rehabilitation

Common diseases like Spinal Cord Injury, Stroke, Parkinson’s show differing symptoms.  Patients with neurological conditions present great hope for recovery. Improvement of the recovery process can be done with new rehabilitation approaches / in combination with medications. 

Cardiac Rehabilitation

Cardiac rehabilitation is given to people with cardiovascular conditions/after myocardial infarction. This includes awareness, exercise & management. These programs limit the psychological effects, reduce risks for sudden death, control symptoms and stabilize the atherosclerotic process. Other benefits include reduced mortality, emergency visits, improvements in exercise capacity.

Pulmonary Rehabilitation

The pulmonary rehabilitation process is done considering the patient’s needs. This is based on therapies, exercise & behaviour change. Improves physical & psychological condition of people with chronic respiratory disease. Aims to promote the long-term commitment to a healthy lifestyle.

Geriatric (health care for elderly people) Rehabilitation

Ageing results in general physiologic function. Chronic conditions and multi-morbidity (multiple health conditions) are widespread among older people. These characteristics make recovery challenging. Knowing the policies will help with effective outcomes.

Renal Rehabilitation

Renal rehabilitation is for pre-dialysis & dialysis patients with chronic kidney disease.  This has improved the exercise limit. Intradialytic exercise protocols had good outcomes in patients with poor cardiopulmonary function, reduced exercise tolerance and ventilatory efficiency. For people with chronic kidney disease Stage 3 & 4, a 12-week/24-session exercise program improves physical capacity.

Burns Rehabilitation

Burns rehabilitation shows many positive results. Robot-assisted gait (movement) training in patients increases gait functions.

Rehabilitation Psychology 

This serves people affected by injury/chronic conditions with disabilities. This pertains throughout the lives of a person. 

Problems dealt with:

This includes those with traumatic brain injury, stroke,  limb loss, burn injury, chronic pain, etc. Other issues dealt with are:

  • Emotional, mental and psychological status.
  • Behaviour that promotes positive adjustment
  • Patients & caregivers are assisted by rehabilitation psychologists.

Procedures

  • Administration of tests of cognitive and psychological functioning; behavioural observation methods
  • Diagnosis & helping both patient and caregiver coping and adjustment.
  • Counselling, psychotherapy, cognitive remediation, behavioural management, etc.

Conclusion:

Rehabilitation has numerous benefits. It brings hope and a possibility of life. Both the patient and the caregiver are taken into consideration. Many scientific developments bring forth the latest methods to improve quality of life. They not only help them recover but gives them a new life.

Subin Joshua
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Author: Hi there, my name is Subin Joshua, and I am a Medical student. I grew up in a family of teachers and know that being a social worker is my calling. My passion for helping others has been evident in my involvement in helping the poor and needy for the last three years. Through those experiences, I have learned to interact with a diverse group of people, which has increased my ability to relate to others.