16.02.2021
Chief rehabilitation specialist: Special conditions are required for medical rehabilitation after Covid-19
Professor Galina Ivanova, chief freelance specialist in medical rehabilitation of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation:
- The question of the possibility of patients’ rehabilitation who have suffered from a new coronavirus infection in fitness centers requires serious study. Rehabilitation is possible only in organizations that have a license for medical rehabilitation. Rehabilitation centers should be provided with certain equipment, which is most often not available in fitness centers: the available simulators are designed for healthy people and cannot provide the minimum loads that patients are capable of after an infection; this can only be done by special medical devices. In addition, in the rehabilitation process, there is a need to diagnose impaired functions, which in fitness is not in principle, except for movements within the normal function. It is also important to have a multidisciplinary team of specialists to manage any disorders, not just movement disorders. The availability of qualified specialists is of great importance. The rehabilitation centers employ specialists who are trained for health care, to provide treatment and rehabilitation assistance.
Since the rehabilitation of patients after COVID-19 is, first of all, medical rehabilitation, it requires compliance with a certain order of organization. This procedure is fixed in the order of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation of 31.07.2020 N 788n "On approval of the Procedure for organizing medical rehabilitation of adults". In addition, the question of the possibility of patients’ rehabilitation after COVID-19 in fitness clubs largely depends on whether these clubs will be able to meet the requirements provided for by the Procedure for Organizing Rehabilitation, whether they have the necessary material and technical equipment and trained specialists.