Summary
What is rehabilitation?
Rehabilitation is care that can help you get back, keep, or improve abilities that you need for
daily life. These abilities may be physical, mental, and/or cognitive (thinking and learning). You
may have lost them because of a disease or injury, or as a side effect from a medical treatment.
Rehabilitation can improve your daily life and functioning.
Who needs rehabilitation?
Rehabilitation is for people who have lost abilities that they need for daily life. Some of the most
common causes include
Injuries and trauma, including burns, fractures (broken bones), traumatic brain injury, and
spinal cord injuries
Stroke
Severe infections
Major surgery
Side effects from medical treatments, such as from cancer treatments
Certain birth defects and genetic disorders
Developmental disabilities
Chronic pain, including back and neck pain
What are the goals of rehabilitation?
The overall goal of rehabilitation is to help you get your abilities back and regain independence.
But the specific goals are different for each person. They depend on what caused the problem,
whether the cause is ongoing or temporary, which abilities you lost, and how severe the problem
is. For example,
A person who has had a stroke may need rehabilitation to be able to dress or bathe
without help
An active person who has had a heart attack may go through cardiac rehabilitation to try
to return to exercising
Someone with a lung disease may get pulmonary rehabilitation to be able to breathe
better and improve their quality of life
What happens in a rehabilitation program?
When you get rehabilitation, you often have a team of different health care providers helping
you. They will work with you to figure out your needs, goals, and treatment plan. The types of
treatments that may be in a treatment plan include
What is rehabilitation?
Rehabilitation is care that can help you get back, keep, or improve abilities that you need for
daily life. These abilities may be physical, mental, and/or cognitive (thinking and learning). You
may have lost them because of a disease or injury, or as a side effect from a medical treatment.
Rehabilitation can improve your daily life and functioning.
Who needs rehabilitation?
Rehabilitation is for people who have lost abilities that they need for daily life. Some of the most
common causes include
Injuries and trauma, including burns, fractures (broken bones), traumatic brain injury, and
spinal cord injuries
Stroke
Severe infections
Major surgery
Side effects from medical treatments, such as from cancer treatments
Certain birth defects and genetic disorders
Developmental disabilities
Chronic pain, including back and neck pain
What are the goals of rehabilitation?
The overall goal of rehabilitation is to help you get your abilities back and regain independence.
But the specific goals are different for each person. They depend on what caused the problem,
whether the cause is ongoing or temporary, which abilities you lost, and how severe the problem
is. For example,
A person who has had a stroke may need rehabilitation to be able to dress or bathe
without help
An active person who has had a heart attack may go through cardiac rehabilitation to try
to return to exercising
Someone with a lung disease may get pulmonary rehabilitation to be able to breathe
better and improve their quality of life
What happens in a rehabilitation program?
When you get rehabilitation, you often have a team of different health care providers helping
you. They will work with you to figure out your needs, goals, and treatment plan. The types of
treatments that may be in a treatment plan include
