INTRODUCTION:

Rehabilitation is a treatment method for individuals suffering from physical and mental illnesses, addiction, and other conditions. The rehabilitation programme assists the patient in resuming his or her normal life and earning a living. Addicts and those who have been affected by sickness or accidents benefit much from rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is crucial in the lives of persons who have been through a traumatic event. Patients are provided this programme based on their needs.

Because everyone's needs are different, the programme is subjective. Each patient receives individual attention, and his or her progress is tracked on a regular basis.

What is Rehabilitation?

· W.H.O define rehabilitation as “The combined and co-ordinated use of medical, social, educational and vocational measures for training and restraining the individual to the highest possible level of functional ability”.

Principles of rehabilitation:

1. Rehabilitation should begin as soon as the patient is identified.

2. The goal of rehabilitation is to return the patient to their pre-illness or pre-injury level of independence in as little time as feasible.

3. He must take an active role in the process.

4. Encourages and assists the patient in achieving social independence.

5. The requirements of a specific group of persons with a certain disease are prioritised.

6. All patients have a legal right to rehabilitation treatments².

Types of Rehabilitation:

1. Medical Rehabilitation: Assists a person in doing better in all of his physical and mental activities on a regular basis. Increased potential capabilities and rectification of abnormalities, as well as the restoration of functions.

2. Social Rehabilitation: This refers to the restoration of a person's social life, such as their family, social connections, or relationships.

3. Psychological Rehabilitation: This includes the psychological restoration of the disabled's personal dignity and confidence.

4. Vocational Rehabilitation: For patients who are having trouble finding work, this service is available⁴.

Based on the treatment types:

1. Cardiac Rehabilitation: The Cardiac Rehabilitation Program is dedicated to providing our patients with cardiovascular illness with comprehensive risk factor management.

2. Physical Rehabilitation: Physical rehabilitation involves using exercise and other techniques to help the patient regain use of their muscles, bones, and neurological system.

3. Occupational Rehabilitation: Occupational rehabilitation assists patients in regaining their capacity to perform routine duties. This can be accomplished by reinforcing previous skills or teaching the patient new skills to cope with limitations via adaptive equipment, orthotics, and home modifications. The therapist will pay a visit to the patient's home and assess what the patient is capable of.

4. Speech Rehabilitation: Speech therapy aids in the correction or restoration of speech problems. It entails individual or group therapy sessions with the therapist, as well as home exercises. e.g. The patient may be asked to speak, grin, or close his mouth in order to strengthen muscles. Alternatively, he can push his tongue out. To help the patient remember common objects and expand his vocabulary, picture cards may be employed.

5. Psychiatric Rehabilitation: Psychiatric rehabilitation entails assisting people with mental illnesses in gaining or improving abilities while also receiving the resources and assistance they require to achieve their objectives.

Types of Team:

· Multidisciplinary team: a group of specialists who work together to achieve a common goal.

· Intradisciplinary rehabilitation team: a group of professionals from the same professions working on the same case, such as three therapists.

· Transdisciplinary rehabilitation team: a group made up of members from a variety of disciplines who collaborate to improve patient treatment through practise or study⁵.

The following are some examples of rehabilitation:

1. After a brain injury, exercises to enhance a person's speech, language, and communication.

2. Making changes to an older person's living environment to improve their safety and independence while lowering their chance of falling.

3. For a person with heart disease, exercise training and information on healthy living are essential.

4. Making, fitting, and instructing a person on how to use a prosthesis following a leg amputation.

5. After burn surgery, use positioning and splinting procedures to help the skin heal, minimise oedema, and regain movement.

6. For a youngster with cerebral palsy, prescribing drugs to decrease muscle stiffness.

7. Support for a depressed person's mental health.

8. A person with visual loss receives training in the usage of a white cane.

· Rehabilitation is extremely person-centered, which means that the interventions and approaches chosen for each person are determined by their goals and preferences. Rehabilitation can take place in a variety of venues, including inpatient and outpatient hospitals, private clinics, and community settings such as a person's home.

· Physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and audiologists, orthotists and prosthetists, clinical psychologists, physical medicine and rehabilitation doctors, and rehabilitation nurses are among the members of the rehabilitation workforce.

Rehabilitation's Benefits:

· Rehabilitation can help people with a wide range of health issues, including acute and chronic diseases, illnesses, and injuries. It can also be used in conjunction with other health measures, such as medical and surgical therapies, to help obtain the best potential outcome. Rehabilitation can, for example, aid in the reduction, management, or prevention of consequences linked with a variety of health disorders, such as a spinal cord injury, a stroke, or a fracture.

· By equipping patients with self-management skills and the assistive equipment they need, or by managing pain or other problems, rehabilitation helps to eliminate or slow down the crippling effects of chronic health illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes.

· Rehabilitation is a cost-effective investment for both individuals and society. It can help you avoid expensive hospitalizations, shorten your time in the hospital, and avoid re-admissions. Rehabilitation also allows people to continue their education and work, live independently at home, and reduce their reliance on financial or caregiver assistance.

· Rehabilitation is a significant technique for reaching Sustainable Development Goal 3 – "Ensure healthy lifestyles and promote well-being for all at all ages."⁶

Globally, there is an unmet rehabilitation need:

Approximately 2.4 billion people worldwide are now suffering from a health condition that could benefit from rehabilitation. With changes in population health and features occurring around the world, the predicted need for rehabilitation will only grow in the future years.

Persons are living longer, with the number of people over 60 years old expected to double by 2050, while chronic diseases such as diabetes, stroke, and cancer are becoming more common. At the same time, injuries (such as burns) and child developmental disorders (such as cerebral palsy) continue to be common. These health issues can have an influence on a person's ability to function and are associated to greater levels of disability, which can benefit from rehabilitation.

This growing need for rehabilitation is largely unmet in many regions of the world. More than half of persons who require rehabilitation treatments in various low- and middle-income nations do not receive them. The COVID-19 epidemic has persistently disrupted rehabilitation services as one of the health services most severely impacted.

Due to a variety of circumstances, global rehabilitation needs continue to be unmet, including:

· On a national level, there is a lack of priority, money, policies, and strategies for rehabilitation.

· Long wait times and a lack of rehabilitative services outside of urban regions.

· High out-of-pocket costs and no or insufficient sources of support

· Many low- and middle-income countries have a shortage of trained rehabilitation experts, with less than 10 skilled practitioners per 1 million people.

· Resources, such as assistive technology, equipment, and consumables, are in short supply.

· More rehabilitation research and data are required.

· Referral paths to rehabilitation that are ineffective and underutilized⁷.

Response from the World Health Organization:

To realize rehabilitation's full potential, efforts should be focused on strengthening the health system as a whole and incorporating rehabilitation into health care at all levels of the health system, as well as part of universal health coverage.

In 2017, WHO launched the Rehabilitation 2030 initiative, which emphasizes the importance of strengthening health systems and calls on all stakeholders to collaborate on a number of priority areas, including improving leadership and governance, developing a strong multidisciplinary rehabilitation workforce, expanding rehabilitation financing, and improving data collection and research.

WHO is responding to the identified difficulties by promoting the building of health systems for rehabilitation by:

· Increasing leadership, priority, and resource mobilization at the country level through providing technical assistance and building capacity.

· Norms, standards, and technical guidance are being developed.

· Creating a research agenda and keeping track of progress⁸.

CONCLUSION:

Rehabilitation is a type of treatment that aims to help you regain, maintain, or develop the skills you need to function in everyday life. Physical, mental, and/or cognitive capacities may be present (thinking and learning). You may have misplaced them due to a disease or accident, or as a result of a medical treatment's negative effects.

The ability to live a longer, productive life with various chronic diseases necessitates rehabilitation for a growing number of people. Nurses in acute care settings play a critical role in determining whether patients may benefit from rehabilitation treatments.

REFERENCES:

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

2. B.T. Basavanthappa, Community health nursing, Jaypee Publication, 6th edition, Page no. 584-605.

3. K. Park, Text book of preventive and social medicine, Bhannot publication, 18th edition, page No.381-384.

4. http://whqlibdoc.who.

5. Veerabhadrappa GM, The short textbook of community health nursing, vol.1, Jaypee the health sciences publisher, newdelhi,1st edition, page no.317.

6. www.rehab.org.in

7. www.cbr.rehab.co.in

8. Shivaleela S Sarawad, Rehabilitation’s benefits: An overview. International Journal of Research in Special Education 2021; 1(2): 21-22

Received on 11.02.2022 Modified on 08.03.2022

Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research. 2022; 10(2):184-186.

DOI: 10.52711/2454-2660.2022.00043