Who on rehabilitation: Key insights & recommendations
Key facts
- Rehabilitation is an essential part of universal health coverage along w ith promotion of good health, prevention of disease, treatment and palliative care.
- Rehabilitation helps a child, adult or older person to be as independent as possible in everyday activities and enables participation in education, work, recreation and meaningful life roles such as taking care of family.
- Globally, an estimated 2.4 billion people are currently living with a health condition that may benefit from rehabilitation.
- 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 and disability.
- Currently, the need for rehabilitation is largely unmet. In some low- and middle-income countries, more than 50% of people do not receive the rehabilitation services they require. Emergencies including conflicts, disasters and outbreaks create enormous surges in rehabilitation needs while also disrupting rehabilitation services.
- Rehabilitation is an important part of universal health coverage and is a key strategy for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3 – “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”.
Overview
Rehabilitation addresses the impact of a health condition on a person’s everyday life by optimizing their functioning and reducing their experience of disability. Rehabilitation expands the focus of health beyond preventative and curative care to ensure people with a health condition can remain as independent as possible and participate in education, work and meaningful life roles. Anyone may need rehabilitation at some point in their lives, whether they have experienced an injury, disease, illness, or because their functioning has declined with age.
The Importance and Scope of Rehabilitation
Definition
Rehabilitation is defined as “a set of interventions designed to optimize functioning and reduce disability in individuals with health conditions in interaction with their environment”.
Rehabilitation: Promoting Independence and Participation in Daily Life
Put simply, rehabilitation helps a child, adult or older person to be as independent as possible in everyday activities and enables participation in education, work, recreation and meaningful life roles such as taking care of family. It does so by working with the person and their family to address underlying health conditions and their symptoms, modifying their environment to better suit their needs, using assistive products, educating to strengthen self-management, and adapting tasks so that they can be performed more safely and independently. Together, these strategies can help an individual; overcome difficulties with thinking, seeing, hearing, communicating, eating or moving around.
Examples and Applications of Rehabilitation Across Lifespan and Conditions
Anybody may need rehabilitation at some point in their lives, following an injury, surgery, disease or illness, or because their functioning has declined with age.
Some examples of rehabilitation include:
- speech and language training to improve a person’s communication after a brain injury;
- physical exercise training to improve muscle strength, voluntary movements and balance in persons with stroke or Parkinson disease;
- modifying an older person’s home environment to improve their safety and independence at home and to reduce their risk of falls;
- educating a person with heart disease on how to exercise safely;
- preparing a person with an amputation to be able to use a prosthetic and making, fitting and refitting the prosthesis;
- positioning and splinting techniques to assist with skin healing, reduce swelling, and to regain movement after burn surgery;
- prescribing medicine to reduce spasticity for a child with cerebral palsy;
- psychological therapies for a person with emotional distress following a spinal cord injury;
- Social skills training for persons with schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorders or disorders of intellectual disability.
- training a person with vision loss in the use of a white cane; and
- working with a patient in intensive care to improve their breathing, prevent complications and speed their recovery after critical illness.
The Person-Centred Approach and Diverse Workforce in Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation is highly person-centred, meaning that the interventions selected for each individual are targeted to their goals and preferences. Rehabilitation can be provided in many different places, such as inpatient or outpatient hospital settings, outpatient physio- or occupational therapy practices, and community settings such as an individual’s home, a school or a workplace.
The rehabilitation workforce is made up of different health workers, including but not limited to physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and audiologists, orthotists and prosthetists, clinical psychologists, physical medicine and rehabilitation doctors, and rehabilitation nurses. Many other health workers, such as general practitioners, surgeons, and community health workers may also play an important role in a person’s rehabilitation.
The benefits of rehabilitation
Enhancing Recovery and Managing Health Conditions
Rehabilitation can reduce the impact of a broad range of health conditions, including diseases (acute or chronic), illnesses or injuries. It complements other health interventions, such as medical and surgical interventions, helping to facilitate recovery and achieve the best outcome possible. In addition, rehabilitation can help to prevent, reduce or manage complications associated with many health conditions, such as in the context of spinal cord injury, stroke, or fractures.
Minimizing Disability, Promoting Health
Rehabilitation helps to minimize or slow down the disabling effects of chronic health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes by equipping people with self-management strategies and the assistive products they require, or by addressing pain or other complications. As such, it contributes to healthy ageing.
Economic Benefits of Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation is an investment, with cost benefits for both the individuals and society. It can help to avoid costly hospitalization, reduce hospital length of stay, and prevent re-admissions. As rehabilitation also enables individuals to engage in or return to work and employment, or to remain independent at home, it minimizes the need for financial or caregiver support.
Misconceptions about rehabilitation
Rehabilitation is not just for the severely disabled
Many people believe that rehabilitation is only for those with long-term disabilities or significant physical impairments. In reality, rehabilitation is a vital part of recovery for anyone facing an acute or chronic condition, injury, or impairment that limits daily functioning.
It’s not a luxury—it’s a necessity
Another common myth is that rehabilitation is an expensive, optional service. But rehabilitation is not a last resort. It is a core health service that should be accessible, affordable, and timely—regardless of financial status or background.
Early rehab leads to better outcomes
To truly realize the health, social, and economic benefits of rehabilitation, it should begin as soon as a health condition is detected, not after other treatments fail. Rehabilitation often works best when delivered alongside medical care, not after it.
From an international health authority
"As emphasized by the World Health Organization (WHO), rehabilitation plays a crucial role in helping individuals regain, maintain, and improve their physical abilities, ensuring a better quality of life. At Movhabily Physiotherapy, we align with WHO's global standards to provide expert neurological rehabilitation tailored to each individual's needs."
The World Rehabilitation Alliance (WRA) is a WHO global network of stakeholders whose mission is to support the implementation of the Rehabilitation 2030 Initiative through advocacy activities.
World Health Organization
