Bobath

The Bobath concept involves constant change and development through the assessment and treatment of the person as a whole. The holistic principle sees each person as a unique combination of inherited and acquired characteristics, shaped by the many external factors that have made them who they are. The approach to each patient is therefore always individual. The Bobath concept is applied from the very first meeting with the medical team.

Through a specialist examination and a review of the medical records, the physiatrist establishes the location and severity of the primary lesion of the central nervous system (CNS). On that basis, possible motor and sensory dysfunctions and their clinical manifestations are identified, so that the CNS damage and the likely course of rehabilitation can be assessed as objectively as possible.

Constant interaction between the physiatrist, the patient, the therapist, the family and the wider environment, together with the involvement of experts from other areas of rehabilitation in the therapy plan, is key to successful rehabilitation and the best possible recovery. By defining the dysfunction and the problems that arise from it, and by assessing the remaining functional potential, everyone agrees on short-term and long-term goals, which always aim at the patient being as independent as possible in everyday activities. Everyone involved in rehabilitation works towards the best possible recovery relative to the patient's condition before the lesion. Continuous adjustment of treatment, re-analysis of results and setting new goals and plans are constant parts of the interaction within the whole team, with the patient at its centre.