Medical rehabilitation is an integral part of the fabric of the German national health care system. As a safeguard concept, it has the task of purposefully eliminating or reducing impairments such as disability, incapacity to work or need for care. For this reason, medical rehabilitation takes into account not only the patient’s physical condition, but above all the situation in which he or she lives, i.e. his or her psychological and social circumstances. The focus is therefore not only on an organic ailment, but on the whole person with his private and professional environment.
What is the course of rehabilitation?
As a complex care program, rehabilitation includes help in coping with the consequences of the disease and in changing behavior. Doctors, physiotherapists, psychologists and many other professional groups work with patients as interdisciplinary and multiprofessional teams. In a specific case, for an individual patient this may be a stay at a spa with a sophisticated treatment plan in a specialized spa clinic, or a series of treatments in an outpatient practice.
Health assurance through rehab
Germany has a wide network of rehabilitation facilities with a high level of expertise and corresponding standards. In cooperation with companies and businesses, physicians in private practice, self-help groups, nursing facilities and hospitals, they offer networked care as an integration service. According to the organizers, this form of care must retain its permanent place in the German healthcare system and be expanded in line with demand.
Rehab: vacation on sick bill ?
Rehabilitation sets standards. It is not a cure, vacation or wellness, but ensures with its specialized facilities the treatment of its patients according to the latest state of science and research. Research in rehabilitation science is promoted and supported by the relevant ministries and associations. Rehabilitation treatment is therefore not a vacation financed by the health insurance company, but a medical treatment with a clear mandate for doctor and patient. Above all, the patient’s compliance with the physician’s instructions and therapy orders are an essential factor for the successful completion of medical rehabilitation treatment.
Medical rehabilitation with an anti-aging effect
Growing old while staying healthy is no longer an exception. Statistically, women today live to an average age of 81, while men live to around 75. Increasing life expectancy also makes people more demanding of their own health. Among today’s 65-year-olds, many are hardly restricted in their everyday activities. But with increasing age, chronic complaints are becoming more frequent. Old people – often with multiple illnesses – currently represent the fastest-growing segment of the population in the Federal Republic of Germany. According to model calculations, this could increase the proportion of people in need of care to 2.5 million by 2030! However, timely treatment and rehabilitation can help prevent or limit chronic illnesses and the need for care, and enable people to lead self-determined lives. After all, rehabilitation helps people remain active in old age and participate in life in society.
Rehab as an economic factor
Demographically, the number of older people is increasing, while the number of younger people is decreasing. The requirements for professional qualifications and experience are increasing. Therefore, the production of goods and services relies on increasingly better retention and promotion of both younger and older workers. Longer working lives, greater preventive health care and occupational integration will be the result. Against this background, rehabilitation is not only good for one’s own health, but as a medical and occupational integration service, it is also an investment in the ability to work that is needed for business and the national economy. It helps to prevent or limit incapacity for work and ensures a better professional future – also for chronically ill or disabled people. Medical and vocational rehabilitation helps to avert impairments such as disability, incapacity to work or need for long-term care, to alleviate the consequences of illness and thus to save high follow-up treatment costs.Around 80 percent of all patients of working age remain in employment for the first few years after rehabilitation. The treatment costs often pay for themselves after just a few months. Thus, according to the organizers of the 1st German Rehab Day, timely rehabilitation could avoid spending billions on pensions and social benefits, keep social security contributions paid, and secure jobs and know-how in companies.
