Medical rehabilitation is a branch of medicine, which aims to improve, enhance and optimise the physical functionality and quality of the lives of patients who have physical impairment or other disabilities.
The aim is to restore the health and functional abilities of people after acute illness or injury such as fracture, stroke, spinal cord injuries, heart surgery, arthritis, joint replacement, sports injuries, heart or lung disease, other neurological disorders or long-term loss of fitness after some illness or surgery.
I was personally thrilled with the care, empathy and improved condition after the physical rehabilitation of one close member of the family following the hip replacement earlier this year. Back from hospital the therapist was regularly visiting her at home for the first exercises which were performed under the therapist’s guidance, care, patience and encouragement that made her smile even during difficult and challenging moments. The recovery then continued in the rehabilitation centre away from home for three weeks. There, again, she received full attention, education and individual approach enabling the movements to become more and more confident. All this was happening in Istria and Kvarner, Croatia.
Our medical rehabilitation specialist, Dr. Vlasta Urban Tripović, who is based in Pula, Croatia, says that the team leader in rehabilitation process is always the patient who gives direction by expressing his or her needs, while the responsibility for diagnosis and therapy belongs to doctors, specialists in physical medicine and rehabilitation. They, in turn, team up with physical therapists from different disciplines. This team of specialists is dedicated to delivering the best possible patient-care, paying a lot of time and attention to his/her needs guiding them towards the recovery.
