Abstract
Social telerehabilitation, which focuses on solving limitations and social issues associated with health conditions, represents a further specialization in telerehabilitation. Both telerehabilitation and social telerehabilitation are grounded in the delivery of rehabilitation services through telecommunication networks, especially by means of the Internet. Essentially, telerehabilitation comprises methods of delivering rehabilitation services using ICT to minimize the barriers of distance, time, and cost. One can define social telerehabilitation as being the application of ICT to provide equitable access to social rehabilitation services, at a distance, to individuals who are geographically remote, and to those who are physically and economically disadvantaged.
TopBackground
Before to deal with social telerehabilitation, the more general notions of rehabilitation and telerehabilitation ought to be introduced.
In fact, social telerehabilitation, which focuses on solving limitations and social issues associated with health conditions, represents a further specialization in telerehabilitation. Figure 1 shows the position of social telerehabilitation within the general framework of telehealth.
Figure 1. Social telerehabilitation within the telehealth general framework
It has to be noted that social telerehabilitation results from a change in the concept of rehabilitation, which has seen a shift in view point away from a predominantly medical one, towards an increasingly complex one in which psychological and socio-cultural aspects are deemed to be of equal importance (Brown & Hughson, 1993; Wade & de Jong, 2000; Altman, Swick, Parrot & Malec, 2010; Karkou, Martinsone, Nazarova & Vaverniece, 2011).
Key Terms in this Chapter
World Bank (WB): Is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programs.
Occupational Therapy: Helps to solve the problems that interfere with an individual ability to do the things that are important to them; it can also prevent a problem or minimize its effects.
World Health Organization (WHO): Is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is concerned with international public health.
Social Educator: Is an independent and recognized professional figure linked to the area of social professions; he supports and guides a person with developmental disabilities in making his or her own choices and implementing their decisions.
Caregiver: Is someone who (paid or unpaid) takes care of another person who is either sick or disabled; a caregiver is most commonly used to address impairments related to old age, disability, a disease, or a mental disorder.
Behavior-Based Robots: Are implemented following an approach that focuses on exhibiting in a robot complex-interactive behaviors in given environment.
Problem Solving Process: Consists of using methods, in a methodical and organized manner, for finding solutions to problems.
Artificial Intelligence: Is a branch of computer science that aims to improve machine behaviour in tackling complex tasks that are specific of human beings.
Wearable Technology: Consists in incorporating in clothing computer and advanced electronic technologies.