Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Editorial
. 2020 May;34(5):571-583.
doi: 10.1177/0269215520905112. Epub 2020 Feb 10.

What is rehabilitation? An empirical investigation leading to an evidence-based description

Derick T Wade  1
Affiliations
Editorial

What is rehabilitation? An empirical investigation leading to an evidence-based description

Derick T Wade. Clin Rehabil. 2020 May.

Abstract

Background: There is no agreement about or understanding of what rehabilitation is; those who pay for it, those who provide it, and those who receive it all have different interpretations. Furthermore, within each group, there will be a variety of opinions. Definitions based on authority or on theory also vary and do not give a clear description of what someone buying, providing, or receiving rehabilitation can actually expect.

Method: This editorial extracts information from systematic reviews that find rehabilitation to be effective, to discover the key features and to develop an empirical definition.

Findings: The evidence shows that rehabilitation may benefit any person with a long-lasting disability, arising from any cause, may do so at any stage of the illness, at any age, and may be delivered in any setting. Effective rehabilitation depends on an expert multidisciplinary team, working within the biopsychosocial model of illness and working collaboratively towards agreed goals. The effective general interventions include exercise, practice of tasks, education of and self-management by the patient, and psychosocial support. In addition, a huge range of other interventions may be needed, making rehabilitation an extremely complex process; specific actions must be tailored to the needs, goals, and wishes of the individual patient, but the consequences of any action are unpredictable and may not even be those anticipated.

Conclusion: Effective rehabilitation is a person-centred process, with treatment tailored to the individual patient's needs and, importantly, personalized monitoring of changes associated with intervention, with further changes in goals and actions if needed.

Keywords: Rehabilitation description; content; person-centred; process; therapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Rehabilitation: who benefits, what structures are needed, what processes occur, and what is the outcome?
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. NHS England. Commissioning guidance for rehabilitation. Publications Gateway reference no: 04919, https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/rehabilitation-com... (accessed 2 December 2019).
    1. Wade DT, De Jong B. Recent advances in rehabilitation. BMJ 2000; 320: 1355–1358. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wade DT. Rehabilitation – a new approach: part four: a new paradigm, and its implications. Clin Rehabil 2016; 30(2): 109–118. - PubMed
    1. Spruit MA, Singh SJ, Garvey C, et al. An Official American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society Statement: key concepts and advances in pulmonary rehabilitation. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2013; 188(8): e13–e64. - PubMed
    1. Langhorne P, Pollock A. What are the components of effective stroke unit care? Age Ageing 2002; 31(5): 365–371. - PubMed

Publication types