Health ministry forum weighs rehabilitation's place in integrated care

South Korea's health ministry said Thursday that the National Rehabilitation Center held the 2026 WHO Collaborating Rehabilitation Forum in Seoul, bringing together international experts to debate rehabilitation's role as the country moves toward an integrated care system.

The ninth edition of the forum, held at the Nine Tree Premier Hotel ROKAUS in Yongsan District and streamed online, gathered consultants and academics including Pauline Kleinitz, a World Health Organization consultant, Kim Buckley of the University of Sydney and Han Eun-jung, a center head at the National Health Insurance Service.

A keynote by the head of Cochrane's rehabilitation, functioning and disability division addressed the future of function-centered integrated care and rehabilitation. The first session covered community rehabilitation for stroke patients, continuity of rehabilitation between hospitals and communities in Japan, and technology-based care; the second focused on sustainable integrated care, with talks on WHO's framing of rehabilitation financing, building a rehabilitation workforce, the burden of caregiving and Denmark's reablement model.

The forum's stated theme was "Integrated Care and Rehabilitation: Building a Sustainable Care System."

Kim Dong-ah, director of the National Rehabilitation Center, said the forum was meant to examine rehabilitation's role in an era of integrated care and to discuss what comes after care, namely the task of helping people live independently.

The forum comes as rapidly rising demand for care increases the burden on families and on society, strengthening the case for a care system that spans medical treatment, nursing and welfare.