More than 300 specialists studied best practices in multidisciplinary rehabilitation
Improving the efficiency of human rehabilitation services is a priority vector for the entire industry. This is a complex and long-term process. It involves not only the development of quality education for professionals but also the exchange of experience. Specialists who are helping Ukrainians to restore functionality with their own hands and have created powerful rehabilitation teams in their medical facilities are a source of invaluable information for other colleagues.
The National Congress on Multidisciplinary Rehabilitation provided a unique opportunity to gather the best practices of the country's best specialists in one place. The organizers of the event managed to create a platform for like-minded people — professionals who are motivated to improve their skills and increase their knowledge and abilities and share them with colleagues, those who are focused on professional growth and development.
The workshops and lectures were attended by doctors of physical and rehabilitation medicine, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, prosthetists, psychologists, and family doctors. The speakers were the best Ukrainian specialists and experts from around the world. The participants learned about several important aspects that should be taken into account when developing a strategy for working in a war zone.
Workshops and lectures were organized around the following areas:
- musculoskeletal rehabilitation of war injuries,
- rehabilitation of spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries, and amputations,
- the state and prospects of rehabilitation in the community,
- topical issues of rehabilitation of neurogenic disorders - invisible traumas of war,
- teamwork in the rehabilitation of complex clinical cases,
- current issues in rehabilitation practice,
- mental health component in rehabilitation and social work.
It should be noted that evidence-based rehabilitation is not something amorphous. It has clearly defined criteria and is based on the needs of a particular person. Its main tool is activity. Activity to restore functions, which begins immediately after the patient’s condition is stabilized. Such approaches are currently being implemented in medical institutions in Ukraine. At the same time, active rehabilitation has nothing to do with outdated and ineffective sanatorium passive methods, physical therapy, electrophoresis and massages.
For rehabilitation to be effective, a large team of specialists must work with a person at the level of a medical institution, including physical and rehabilitation doctors, physical and occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, psychologists, assistants, and nurses.
At the community level, rehabilitation of a person requires extensive interaction with other areas (education, employment, social assistance, family doctors) and greater independence of rehabilitation professions. Interaction between professionals and patients, psychological assistance, and human-centered communication are the first steps needed to make a person want to recover, believe in themselves, and build trust in the rehabilitation team.
The development of rehabilitation is not primarily about building or repairing multi-story buildings with hundreds of beds and filling them with equipment. It is skillful human hands. That is, rehabilitation specialists.
The Congress was an important step forward for all its participants. It is a step forward to evidence-based methods, effective rehabilitation, to quality work with the complex consequences that often arise as a result of war injuries and traumas.
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The event was implemented by the partners of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine - the Rehabilitation of War Traumas in Ukraine project, implemented by the CF Patients of Ukraine, together with the All-Ukrainian Association of Physical Therapists, the Ukrainian Society of Occupational Therapists, the Ukrainian Society of Speech and Language Therapy, Protez Hub, the Ukrainian Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, with the support of the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine, as well as the European Union in Ukraine, Nova Ukraine.