日本には3種類のリハビリテーション（リハビリ）の専門職があります。
それは、理学療法士（PT）、作業療法士（OT）、言語聴覚士（ST）の3種類です。

理学療法士は、寝返りをうつこと、座ること、歩くこと等の基本動作と言われる動作を獲得するための専門職です。

作業療法士は、入浴、食事、更衣等の日常生活動作又は応用的動作と言われる動作を獲得するための専門職です。

言語聴覚士は、聴覚、言語、音声、嚥下（飲み込み）に関わるリハビリの専門職です。

しかし実際には、これは理学療法士、これは言語聴覚士と線引きすることは難しいことです。
また、この3つの職種のみの介入では機能回復や社会復帰は困難です。
最近では医師を始め、看護師、栄養士、社会福祉士など多岐に渡る専門職が集まりチーム一丸となって支援する『チーム医療』の考えが普及しています。




Rehabilitation in Japan

There are three categories of medical staff that perform rehabilitation in Japan. They are Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, and Speech Therapists.

Physical Therapists help patients to re-acquire basic movements such as turning around in bed, sitting down and walking.

Occupational Therapists help patients to re-acquire movements for practical use in everyday life situations such as taking a bath, eating a meal, and getting dressed.

Speech therapists assist patients in the areas of hearing, language, voice, and swallowing. However, in reality, it is difficult to determine precisely where the distinction between speech therapy and physical therapy lies. Moreover, it would be difficult to regain function and return to society with only the help of these three types of professionals. Recently, the idea of a unified and coherent “medical care team” consisting of the diverse roles of doctor, nurse, nutritionist, social worker and so on has become prevalent.


– Aya Miyata
– English by Chay Schiller