Current trends in medical rehabilitation and their importance for the field of psychosomatic rehabilitation

At present the process of serious restructuring can be observed in the syst em of medical rehabilitation in Germany. This paper focuses on recently ini tiated innovations and their consequences for psychosomatic rehabilitation. The patient's access to a psychosomatic rehabilitation system is analysed and examined to what extent innovations increase early detection of patient s with psychosomatic disorders. Regarding the structure of psychosomatic re habilitative offers, the initiated innovations such as an increase of flexi bility, better transition and improvement of inpatient rehabilitative offer s are described and discussed. Finally, the development of quality improvem ent programs and rehabilitation research in the field of psychosomatic reha bilitation is presented. Although many changes have taken place up to now, further relevant modifications in psychosomatic rehabilitation are predicte d by the authors.