Rehabilitation medicine uses many forms of assistance, therapies, and devices to improve function. The type of rehabilitation a person receives depends on the condition causing the impairment, the body function affected, and the severity of the impairment.

The following are some common types of rehabilitation:^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

• Cognitive rehabilitation therapy involves relearning or improving skills, such as thinking, learning, memory, planning and decision making, that may have been lost or affected by brain damage.
• Occupational therapy helps a person carry out everyday tasks and activities at home, at work and in the community.
• Pharmacohabilitation involves the use of substances to improve or restore physical or mental function.
• Physiotherapy involves activities and exercises to improve the body’s movements, sensations, strength and balance.
• Rehabilitative/assistive technology refers to tools, equipment and products that help people with disabilities move and function. This technology includes (but is not limited to):
  • Orthotics, which are devices intended to improve movement and prevent contracture in the upper and lower limbs. For example, cushions inserted into a shoe, specially fitted shoes, or ankle or leg braces can improve a person’s ability to walk. Hand splints and arm wraps can help the upper limbs remain flexible and unbound after a spinal cord injury.
  • Prostheses, which are devices designed to replace a missing body part, such as an artificial limb
  • Wheelchairs, walkers, crutches and other mobility aids
  • Augmentative/Alternative Communication (AAC) devices, which are intended either to make a person’s communication more understandable or to replace a method of communication. They may include electronic devices, speech generating devices and picture boards.
  • Hearing aids and cochlear implants
  • Retinal prostheses, which can restore useful vision in cases where it has been lost due to certain degenerative eye diseases
  • Telemedicine and telerehab technologies, which are devices or software to deliver care or monitor conditions in the home or community
  • Rehabilitation robotics
  • Mobile apps to help with speech/communication, anxiety/stress, memory and other functions or symptoms⁶
• Recreational therapy helps improve symptoms and social and emotional well-being through arts and crafts, games, relaxation training and animal-assisted therapy.
• Speech and language therapy aims to improve impaired swallowing and movement of the mouth and tongue as well as difficulties with voice, language and speech.
• Surgery include procedures to correct a misaligned limb or to release a tight muscle, skin grafts for burns, inserting chips into the brain to help move a limb or prosthesis, and placing skull plates or bone pins.
• Occupational rehabilitation helps build skills to go to school or work at a job.
• Music or art therapy can specifically assist in helping people express emotions, in cognitive development, or in developing social cohesion.⁷

These services are provided by a variety of health care providers and specialists, including (but not limited to):

• Physiatrists (also called rehabilitation doctors)
• Occupational therapists
• Physiotherapists
• Cognitive rehabilitation therapists
• Gait and clinical movement specialist
• Rehabilitation technologists
• Speech therapist
• Audiologists
• Orthopedists/surgeons
• Neurologists
• Psychiatrists/psychologists
• Biomedical Engineers
• Rehabilitation Engineers