Overview of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMandR)
This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician with any questions you have regarding a medical condition. Your provider will offer referrals or treatment plans based on your specific condition or diagnosis.
What is physical medicine and rehabilitation?
Physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) is also called physiatry. It's a medical area that helps a person function when they are disabled due to a health problem or injury.
Rehab helps the whole person. It looks at physical, emotional, health, work, and social needs. A rehab doctor is called a physiatrist.
What is rehabilitation?
Rehabilitation (rehab) helps a person reach the best level of function, independence, and quality of life possible. Rehab does not reverse the damage caused by disease or injury. But it helps a person be at their best in function and well-being.
The rehabilitation program
Rehab medicine is designed to meet each person's needs. So each program is different. In general, rehab programs:
- Treat the disease and prevent complications.
- Treat the disability and improve function.
- Provide adaptive tools and change the environment.
- Help the person and their family adapt to lifestyle changes.
The success of rehab depends on many things, including:
- The type of health problem or injury and how severe it is.
- The type and degree of disability.
- The person's overall health.
- Family support.
Areas covered in rehab programs may include:
Patient need
Example
Self-care skills, including activities of daily living (ADLs)
Feeding, grooming, bathing, dressing, toileting, and sexual function
Physical care
Nutritional needs, medicine, and skin care
Mobility skills
Walking, transfers, and self-propelling a wheelchair
Respiratory care
Ventilator care, if needed; breathing treatments and exercises to help lung function
Communication skills
Speech, writing, and other ways to communicate
Cognitive skills
Memory, focus, judgment, problem-solving, and organizational skills
Socialization skills
Interacting with others at home and in the community
Vocational training
Work-related skills
Pain management
Medicine and other ways to manage pain
Psychological counseling
Noting problems and finding solutions for thinking, behavioral, and emotional issues
Family support
Help with adapting to lifestyle changes, money concerns, and discharge planning
Education
Patient and family education and training about the condition, medical care, and ways to adapt
Understanding rehabilitation terminology
Rehab is needed when a disease and injury cause an impairment:
- An impairment is a loss of normal function of part of the body, such as paralysis of a leg.
- Disability occurs when a person can't do an activity in a normal way due to an impairment, such as not being able to walk.
- A handicap occurs when there are limits that prevent a person with a disability from doing their normal roles, such as not being able to work. A handicap refers to a barrier that may be imposed by society, the environment, or the person's own attitude.
Most people with disabilities are not considered handicapped. They go to school, work, perform family duties, and interact with society fully and capably.