Association of Rehabilitation Psychologists and Professionals India

What is Rehabilitation Psychology?

Rehabilitation has been described as a program that uses a combination of interventions to empower individuals with disabilities and chronic health conditions with the aim to help them achieve socially meaningful, personally fulfilling, and functionally effective interaction in their daily lives. Rehabilitation psychology is a branch of psychology that is related to the study and application of psychological knowledge, social principles and skills development for persons with disabilities and chronic health conditions. The aim of Rehabilitation Psychology is to maximize mental health, independent functional abilities, and social role participation across the life span of individuals with disabilities and chronic health conditions.

Scope of Rehabilitation Psychology

The scope and application of Rehabilitation Psychologists are wide, as Rehabilitation Psychologists address various domains of one’s everyday functioning, as per the World Health Organization (WHO)’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF). Some of these are as follows:

Assessment of an individual’s physical, personal, psychological, cognitive, and behavioural factors and followed by developing an intervention plan accordingly.
Assessment of an individual’s neurocognitive status, sensory difficulties, mood and emotions, desired level of independence and interdependence, mobility and freedom of movement, self-esteem and self-determination, behavioural control and coping skills, individual’s capabilities, and quality of life to understand the client’s perspective efficiently.
It assesses the influence of culture, ethnicity, language, gender, age, developmental level, sexual orientation, geographical location, socioeconomic status, and assumptions of difficulty on attitudes and the services which are given to the client.
It explores the environmental barriers in participation and performance in day to day activities including accommodations and adaptation in the existing social structure.
It includes research and teaching of psychology students and other health trainees about the requirements of people with special needs. It also focuses on the development of policies for health promotion and advocacy for persons with disabilities and chronic health conditions.
It provides services within existing networks of biological, psychological, social, environmental, and political environments such as attorneys, courts, government agencies, educational institutions, corporate facilities, or insurance companies.

Role and functions of a Rehabilitation Psychologist

Rehabilitation psychologists' roles are involved in practice and research, fostering independence and opportunity for people with disabilities. They are trained and specialized to engage in a broad range of roles in activities including clinical practice, consultation, program development, research, teaching and training, administration, development of public policy and advocacy related to people with disabilities and chronic health conditions.

Functions of a Rehabilitation Psychologist

A Rehabilitation Psychologist performs several functions. Some being specific and some being general. The functions are enlisted as follows:

S/He focuses on improving the functioning and quality of life of persons with special needs by restoring the patient’s physical functions and modifying the patient’s physical and social environment.
Case management which includes obtaining written reports regarding the client’s progress, developing rapport with physicians and other rehabilitation health professionals and caseload management-which refers to the ability to manage several clients, within a given amount of time and provide optimum services.
Providing a community-based rehabilitation service activity for integration and equalizing opportunities in all aspects of society.
Providing vocational counselling and consultation which include services such as job development and placement, career counselling, vocational planning, and assessment.