Rehabilitation of people with disabilities is a process aimed at enabling
them to reach and maintain their optimal physical, sensory, intellectual,
psychological and social functional levels. WHO, in “World Report on
Disability”, defines rehabilitation as a set of measures that assist individuals
who experience, or are likely to experience, disability to achieve
and maintain optimal functioning in interaction with their environments.
Lack of rehabilitation services creates a barrier to full inclusion and participation
in all aspects of life.
The aim of this article was to present the nature of medical rehabilitation,
in particular medical rehabilitation of elderly people. The basic
definitions of medical rehabilitation and physiotherapy were also presented.
The medical rehabilitation system in Poland, its organization
and funding system was shown based on publications and statistical
data of the Central Statistical Office (GUS) as well the access to medical
rehabilitation services and selected medical procedures was assessed
based on available data from National Health Fund (NFZ) and Ministry
of Health (MZ).
keywords in Polish:
rehabilitacja medyczna, fizjoterapia, dostęp do świadczeń zdrowotnych, osoby w wieku podeszłym
keywords in English:
medical rehabilitation, physiotherapy, access to health services, elderly people
affiliation:
Wydział Nauk o Zdrowiu : Instytut Zdrowia Publicznego