Rehabilitation specialists help people to regain physical, mental or cognitive (thinking and learning) that have been lost or impaired as a result of disease, injury, or treatment. They work with patients to become as independent as possible in everyday activities and enable them to participate in education, work, recreation and remain independent at home. Rehabilitation is highly person-centred, meaning that the interventions and approach selected for each individual depends on their clinical assessment, goals and preferences. Targeted therapies are implemented to address underlying conditions (such as pain) and improving the way an individual functions in everyday life, supporting them to overcome difficulties with thinking, seeing, hearing, communicating, eating or moving around.
Anybody may need rehabilitation at some point in their lives, following an injury, surgery, disease or illness, or because their functioning has declined with age.
Rehabilitation workforce is made up of different health workers, including but not limited to allied health teams of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and audiologists, orthotists and prosthetists, clinical psychologists, physical medicine and rehabilitation doctors, and rehabilitation nurses.
