What can I expect in an inpatient rehab?
Unlike inpatient hospital treatment, the patient does not spend most of the time in the room or waiting for the doctor’s visit, but a fixed therapy plan is drawn up and followed. Every day there is a 4-6h program with different units and teaching contents, but also medical consultations. On the one hand, the focus is on physical measures.
With the help of physiotherapy and occupational therapy, joint mobility and independence are to be restored and trained. Among other things, aqua gymnastics and treadmill training are also used for this purpose. The wounds are to be professionally treated and the healing process checked.
In addition, lymph drainage is also part of the repertoire of decongestive measures. On the other hand, there are also many information and teaching events. It is discussed in detail what is allowed with the endoprosthesis in the future and what one should pay attention to in the first period after the prosthesis implantation.
Information events are also held on diseases, their causes and their prophylaxis, so that the patient himself should gain a better understanding of his own diseases and risk factors. For example, the topic of overweight, which is a risk factor for osteoarthritis and joint wear, can be addressed during orthopedic rehabilitation and nutritional advice can be provided. While all these measures take place during the day, the person concerned nevertheless spends most of the time on the clinic premises and also stays overnight there.
This means that they have access to medical personnel at all times, should they need help. The primary advantage of in-patient rehabilitation is that it enables day and night care. Sick patients can also be admitted here, for whom it is necessary that nursing or medical staff must be available at all times.Because the inpatient variant is similar to a hospital stay, patients whose care at home is not guaranteed in the disease situation also benefit.
In addition, the patient is spared the daily arrival and departure. In-patient rehabilitation can also be useful for patients who need some distance from their family and social environment for personal reasons. The disadvantages of inpatient rehabilitation correspond to the advantages of outpatient rehabilitation.
The patient is inevitably separated from his social environment. The spending of leisure time and nights cannot take place in the familiar environment. Besides the Reha takes place en bloc.
Thus, in the example of rehab after hip replacement, 3 weeks are spent as a whole in the rehab clinic with a daily program on weekdays. A more flexible time schedule with extension of the treatment duration by reducing the weekly treatment days is not possible. In addition, there is a co-payment of 10 Euro/day for in-patient rehabilitation, although there are of course exceptions where the rehabilitation measure is exempt from the co-payment.
