Rehabilitation

physical therapy

physical therapy or physiotherapy, treatment of disorders of the muscles, bones, or joints by means of physical agents—heat, light, water, manual and electronic massage, and exercise. Stroke, arthritis, fractures, and nerve damage are common conditions treated. The type of treatment needed is prescribed by a physician and carried out by trained physiotherapists. The therapist attempts to prevent pain or further damage and may also train different muscles to compensate for ones that have been damaged. Whirlpool baths are valuable in treating injuries and chronic inflammatory conditions. Ultrasound and short-wave diathermy may be employed for some disorders. Massage (a passive form of exercise) provides stimulation of nerves and prevents muscular atrophy in body areas disabled by paralysis or rheumatic disorders. Active exercises are also prescribed as treatment for various conditions. Physiotherapy is important in sports, not only as part of the conditioning program but also in treating injuries.

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Rehabilitation

Slum areas and substandard buildings brought up to an acceptable living standard. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s standards state: “returning a property to a state of utility through repair or alteration which makes possible an efficient contemporary use while preserving those portions or features of the property which are significant to its historical architectural, and cultural values.”To repair an existing building to good condition with minimal changes to the building fabric; may also include adaptive reuse or restoration; also called rehab.

Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture Copyright © 2012, 2002, 1998 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Rehabilitation

 

(1) Restoration of rights.

(2) In medicine, medical, pedagogical, occupational, and legal measures that aim to restore the health and work capacity of individuals with physical and mental limitations resulting from disease or injury. Persons undergoing rehabilitation include those suffering from some diseases of the internal organs, from congenital and acquired diseases of the musculoskeletal system, from the sequelae of severe injuries, and from mental diseases. Rehabilitation is of particular importance for children suffering from mental retardation or from defects in hearing, speech, or vision.

Rehabilitation includes such therapeutic measures as occupational and exercise therapy, sports, electrotherapy, mud therapy, and massage. These procedures are carried out in rehabilitation departments and centers in large hospitals and in institutes of traumatology, psychiatry, and cardiology. Other rehabilitative measures develop basic skills needed by patients for self-sufficiency (social and everyday rehabilitation) and train them for work (occupational and industrial rehabilitation).

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

rehabilitation

[‚rē·ə‚bil·ə′tā·shən]

(medicine)

The restoration to a disabled individual of maximum independence commensurate with his limitations by developing his residual capacity.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

rehabilitation

The process of returning a building to its original state of utility by means of repair or alteration.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.