Rehabilitation in Health Systems

Rehabilitation in health systems provides recommendations for Member States and other relevant stakeholders to strengthen and expand the availability of quality rehabilitation services. Currently, there is a significant unmet need for rehabilitation services and it is frequently undervalued in the health system. As populations age and the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases and injuries increases, and the demand for rehabilitation grows, strengthening rehabilitation in health systems becomes ever more paramount.

Global trends in health and ageing require a major scaling up of rehabilitation services in countries around the world and in low- and middle-income countries in particular. Strengthening service delivery and ensuring it is adequately financed is fundamental to ensuring that rehabilitation is available and affordable for those who need it. This document provides evidence-based, expert-informed recommendations and good practice statements to support health systems and stakeholders in strengthening and extending high-quality rehabilitation services so that they can better respond to the needs of populations.The recommendations are intended for government leaders and health policy-makers and are also relevant for sectors such as workforce and training. The recommendations and good practice statements may also be useful for people involved in rehabilitation research, service delivery, financing and assistive products, including professional organizations, academic institutions, civil society and nongovernmental and international organizations.

Also available in Chinese and Portuguese