Home-based Physical Therapy Infrastructure and the Direction of Policy Development for Long Term Care Insurance in Community

노인장기요양보험제도 시행에 따른 지역사회 중심의 방문물리치료의 인프라 측면의 현황과 과제

Background: This article reviewed the current status of home-based physical therapy infrastructure in long term care insurance and then solved the problem. Method: We used two forms of data that were acquired from ⅰ) the Ministry of Health & Welfare and the Family and National Health Insurance Corporation, ⅱ) a home-visiting health care program, and ⅲ) evaluation data from the Korea Health Industry Development Institute. The home-based physical therapy program was then analyzed. Results: The role and concept of home-based physical therapy was not clearly established. There were few home-based physical therapy programs in the community. The manpower of home-based physical therapists in the home-visiting health care program was very low. The role between home-visiting nurses (caregivers) and home-based physical therapists was mixed. Research and promotion regarding home-based physical therapy was poor. Conclusion: To establish a system of legal, long-term care insurance, we must increase the manpower of home-based physical therapists and the amount of research pertaining to the demand for home-based physical therapy.