Comprehensive rehabilitation management: protecting the path to health recovery
I. Content and meaning of rehabilitation management
Rehabilitation management is a comprehensive subject dedicated to helping patients recover their physical functioning and improve their quality of life. Its place in the modern health system is increasingly prominent. When a person suffers physical damage as a result of illness, trauma or surgery, the management of rehabilitation is like a lighthouse that guides the way to recovery. For example, in the case of a patient who suffered multiple fractures and soft tissue damage as a result of a car accident, rehabilitation management should focus not only on the healing of the fracture, but also on ensuring the full restoration of his/her body function, including the re-establishment of his/her muscle strength, the restoration of his/her joint flexibility, etc., so as to enable the patient to move freely again.
From a broader perspective, rehabilitation management has far-reaching implications for society. It reduces the number of people who are long-term dependent on social welfare as a result of disability and allows more people to re-enter work and social life, thus reducing the burden on society as a whole. Effective rehabilitation management, following common hip replacement operations for older persons, allows them to recover their mobility as soon as possible, reduce complications, improve their self-care and improve the quality of life in later years.
II. Central elements of rehabilitation management
(i) Precision assessment – guidance for rehabilitation
Accurate assessment is the first step in rehabilitation management. It covers several dimensions, including body structure and functional assessment. For example, in cases of spinal damage, the degree of damage to the spinal column, neuroreflection and the state of associated muscles are examined in detail. In addition, there are activities and participatory capacity assessments to understand the extent of functional limitations by observing patients ‘ actions in their daily lives, such as up and down stairs, sit-in conversions, etc. Nor should psychological assessment be overlooked, as chronic illness or disability often causes psychological stress and negative emotions and affects the rehabilitation process. For persons suffering from chronic diseases such as rheumatism, pain and joint deformation can lead to anxiety and depression, which can be detected in a timely manner by psychological assessment to provide a basis for a comprehensive rehabilitation programme.
(ii) Individualization programme — road map for rehabilitation
The development of individualized rehabilitation programmes based on the results of the assessment is key. Programmes vary greatly for different types of patients. For those in need of physical rehabilitation, such as athletes who pull muscles or lurches, rehabilitation programmes focus on targeted force training and flexible training, combined with physiotherapy to accelerate damage repair. In the case of patients with nervous system diseases such as Parkinson ‘ s, rehabilitation programmes focus on balancing training, step training and daily life skills training, together with drug treatment, to slow progress and improve the patient ‘ s self-reliance.
(iii) Multiple means of rehabilitation — powerful weapons of rehabilitation
1. Physicotherapy: this is an important part of rehabilitation treatment. Among them, phototherapy, which uses different wavelengths of light to stimulate cell repair and regeneration, has a good effect on some shallow wounds and skin inflammation. Ultrasonic treatment can be used to promote local blood circulation, to relieve muscle pain, and often to treat muscle labour and arthritis through mechanical and thermodynamic effects.
2. Physical therapy: design of appropriate physical training based on the physical condition of the patient. Aerobics, such as cycling, swimming, etc., can improve CPR function and endurance for persons with cardiovascular diseases. In the case of patients with a joint replacement, progressive resistance training increases muscle strength, protects joints and improves joint stability.
Rehabilitation works: provision of assistive devices to patients to improve the quality of life. For example, paraplegic patients are equipped with appropriate wheelchairs and assistive stand-up equipment to enable them to achieve a certain degree of mobility and self-care. For persons with upper limb functional impairments, specially designed prostheses or orthotics are designed to help them recover, for example, hand gripping.
III. Safeguards for the administration of rehabilitation
(i) Professional team collaboration – a strong fort for rehabilitation Rehabilitation Management requires close collaboration among multidisciplinary professionals. As the core of the team, rehabilitation physicians must have comprehensive medical knowledge, be able to accurately diagnose the situation and develop rehabilitation strategies. Physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists, among others, are required to master their respective areas of expertise, refine rehabilitation programmes and effectively implement them. In the process of rehabilitation, the nurse is required to provide care for the patient, including care for the wound, assistance to the patient in his/her day-to-day activities, and to observe the patient ‘ s physical response and provide timely feedback to the rehabilitation physician.
(ii) Patient and family education – continuing motivation for rehabilitation
Patients and family members are important participants in rehabilitation management. Rehabilitation education for patients and families is essential. Patients need to be aware of the process and expected results of rehabilitation treatment and to cooperate actively with it. For example, in the process of rehabilitation in the brain, the patient needs to know that the rehabilitation training is gradual and cannot be abandoned because it is not effective in the short term. Family members must learn how to assist with the rehabilitation of patients in their daily lives, such as the proper placement of patients with spinal cord injuries, the prevention of scabies and cortex, and the provision of psychological support to the patients in order to create a good recovery climate.
(iii) Data monitoring and programme adjustments — flexibility for rehabilitation
Continuous data monitoring is essential in the rehabilitation process. Problems in the rehabilitation process are detected in a timely manner through regular collection and analysis of data on the physical function of the patient, psychological status, etc. In the event of an abnormal pain in the patient ‘ s rehabilitation training or a lack of functional recovery, the rehabilitation team promptly adjusts the rehabilitation programme to ensure the effectiveness and safety of the rehabilitation management.
In general, rehabilitation management is a systematic project, based on scientific evaluation, guided by individualized programmes and supported by a variety of treatments, which, through the joint efforts of professional teams, patients and family members, provide patients with a path to a healthy life and play an irreplaceable role in modern medicine.
