Geriatric rehabilitation in Germany: service provision policy and structural aspects from a statutory health insurance perspective

The so-called shifting of paradigm in medicine has inevitably led to an increasing importance of medical rehabilitation, especially geriatric rehabilitation, within the system of medical care in the Federal Republic of Germany. Nationally valid guidelines for assessing the indication of geriatric rehabilitation and for recommending options for appropriate allocation have been elaborated within the framework of the German statutory health insurance system. In addition, manpower and equipment requirements for ambulatory geriatric rehabilitation facilities have been agreed on. These guidelines include clarifications concerning the following: definition of the geriatric patient; definition of the patient in need of geriatric rehabilitation; demarcation of geriatric rehabilitation from organ-specific rehabilitation; operationalization of assessment procedures and allocation recommendations concerning geriatric rehabilitation; requirements profiles for ambulatory geriatric rehabilitation facilities. Essential prerequisites for successful implementation of these national standards are among others: turning towards the bio-psycho-social model of health and disease advocated by the World Health Organization; overcoming the traditional deficit model of aging and old-age in favour of a resource-oriented approach in service-provision policies; rejecting the one-sided fiscal thinking in the current debate over service-provision policies in geriatric rehabilitation.