Physiotherapist professional provides Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) to ensure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as all other community members. This includes, for example, equal access to health care, education, skills training, employment, family life, social mobility and political empowerment. Physiotherapy in the community is a broad and varied professional field, with links to all fields of medicine.
The service is provided in HMO (kupat cholim) facilities distributed throughout Israel, and is intended for the overall population, of all ages and in all states of health. The treatment focusses on rehabilitation of function and movement in order to promote the patient’s health and independence.
Physiotherapy in the community is provided in a number of frameworks:
- Physiotherapy Institutes - Facilities for treating the population of all ages and varied health statuses in the framework of the HMO (kupat cholim) or privately.
- Child Development Institutes and Units - in which pediatric patients with developmental problems are diagnosed and treated. Physiotherapy services are an integral part of the multi-disciplinary treatment array.
- Rehabilitation Institutes in the Community - In institutes intended for continuation of rehabilitation (following rehabilitation during hospitalization or at the patient’s home), physiotherapy is a primary component of the treatment. The physiotherapist is a part of the team of health care and rehabilitation professionals.
- Home Treatment - Treatment provided to a bedridden and/or housebound person who cannot attend a physiotherapy institute for treatment.
Activities and Treatments
Physiotherapy frameworks in the community offer a range of activities and treatments, including:
- Individual treatment in a range of states of health, e.g. disturbances of the musculoskeletal system, the nervous system, the respiratory system
- Physiotherapy in unique fields, e.g. disturbances of the lymphatic system, the vestibular system and the pelvic floor
- Group treatment within the framework the health services basket and outside of the framework of the basket
- Physical activity adapted to health status, for example for patients with heart disease, diabetes and obesity
- Guidance and advice for maintaining an active and independent lifestyle in the framework of health days, lectures and health promotion activities
- Hydrotherapy
- Rehabilitation of patients with lung disease and heart disease
