Definition
The World Health Organization defines rehabilitation as an active process by which those disabled by injury or disease achieve full recovery, or, if full recovery is not possible, realize their optimal physical, mental, and social potential and are integrated into their most appropriate environment. This refers to people with chronic illnesses, after trauma, and with congenital disabilities.
Basic Characteristics
Background
There are around 600 million people with disabilities worldwide. The disabilities may be physical, sensory, and/or mental conditions and limit the way the disabled persons carry out their daily activities. Many disabled people live in developing nations and do not have access to rehabilitation services of any kind. Internationally, there have been efforts to improve the quality of life for disabled people and their families in recent year, which are reflected in a stronger emphasis on social elements instead of predominantly the medical perspective. commun...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Barnes MP, Ward AB (2005) Oxford Handbook of Rehabilitation Medicine. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Dell Orto AE, Marinelli RP (1995) Encyclopedia of Disability and Rehabilitation. Macmillan, New York
Haupt E, Delbrück H (1998) Grundlagen der Rehabilitation. In: Delbrück H, Haupt E: Rehabilitationsmedizin. Urban & Schwarzenberg, München, pp 111–120
Ward AB (2002) Persons with physical disabilities: a rehabilitation approach. In: Detels R, McEwen J, Beaglehole R, Tanaka H: Oxford Textbook of Public Health, 4th edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 1657–1683
World Health Organisation (2001) International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: ICF. WHO, Geneva
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer-Verlag
About this entry
Cite this entry
Lenz, G. (2008). Rehabilitation Delivery . In: Kirch, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Public Health. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5614-7_2967
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5614-7_2967
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-5613-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-5614-7
eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine