Rehabilitation of the Disabled and Role of the Orthopaedic Surgeon

Seo, Kwang Yoon

Abstract

Total rehabilitation covering medical, educational, vocational and social services for the total disabled population is an ideal goal for any country. However, in reality, only a fractional portion of the disabled people is covered by any part of the rehabilitation process, especially in developing countries. Therefore, W.H.O. recommended each country to take an urgent action to adopt the Community Based Rehabilitation Service System incorporating the prevention of the disability and rehabilitation into the already existing Primary Public Health Network with the total involvement of the community resources : The basic philosophy of the delivery system should be modified in accordance with the political, socio-economical state of each country. The present state and problems involved in rehabilitation set up in Korea are discussed and suggestions are made. The key of the problems at moment appears to be the steam-lining the Rehabilitation Delivery System at every administrative level to devise the most simple, effective and practical Rehabilitation Service Delivery System which is easily accessible to any disabled people. Realizing the present development and trend in the field of rehabilitation, active role of the orthopedic surgeon as a main driving horse in the medical rehabilitation and also as a community leader are emphasized.