Intensive medical rehabilitation
On this page
The goal of intensive medical rehabilitation is to help you find ways to manage in your daily life despite your medical condition or disability. This means that you will work together with experts during the rehabilitation course to discover ways to make your daily life easier.
Intensive medical rehabilitation is intended for persons under 65. This means that it is available to adults, children and young persons.
Rehabilitation is free of charge.
Can you get intensive medical rehabilitation?
You can get intensive medical rehabilitation if
- you are under 65
- it is very difficult for you to manage in your daily life
- you need rehabilitation for at least one year
- you are not in public-sector institutional care
- the goal of your rehabilitation is to improve your ability to function in your daily life.
Intensive medical rehabilitation is based on a rehabilitation plan (kuntoutussuunnitelma) you must get from a public healthcare provider. The rehabilitation plan covers a period of 1–3 years. You make it together with the doctor in charge of your care. The rehabilitation plan contains a recommendation on what kind of rehabilitation is suitable for you.
What is intensive medical rehabilitation?
Intensive medical rehabilitation helps you improve your ability to function in different daily life situations. The rehabilitation is always tailored to your specific rehabilitation goals.
Examples of the types of rehabilitation you can get include
- therapy (for example physical, occupational or speech therapy, psychotherapy or neuropsychological rehabilitation)
- multidisciplinary individual rehabilitation
- group rehabilitation that addresses your condition or disability.
Therapy offered as intensive medical rehabilitation
Intensive medical rehabilitation can take the form of therapy.
Kela can grant you therapy based on your rehabilitation plan.
Therapy is usually granted either for one year or for up to 3 years at a time. You can get different types of therapy at the same time if they support your rehabilitation and if they are included in your rehabilitation plan.
Examples of different types of therapy:
- aquatic therapy
- physiotherapy
- art psychotherapy
- music therapy
- neuropsychological rehabilitation
- family therapy
- psychotherapy
- speech therapy
- therapeutic riding (led by a physiotherapist or an occupational therapist)
- occupational therapy.
Therapy sessions can be held in other environments that are not a medical clinic, such as the client’s home, school, day care centre or other daily life environment. That way your family members and other trusted people in your life can learn how to support your rehabilitation process.
Different kinds of methods can be used during your therapy sessions, and the sessions can be held when it is convenient for you. You can try out various forms of physical activity or hobbies during therapy to help you find ways to improve your skills and give you support in your daily life.
Things to know when you apply for psychotherapy, neuropsychological rehabilitation or speech therapy
When you apply for psychotherapy for the first time, you need a rehabilitation plan (kuntoutussuunnitelma) issued by a public healthcare provider. The plan must include an assessment issued by a paediatric psychiatrist, adolescent psychiatrist or psychiatrist that states your rehabilitation needs and if psychotherapy is a good fit for you.
If you are at least 18 and you want to apply for continued psychotherapy, you will need a rehabilitation plan issued by psychiatrist who works in the public healthcare system every 3 years. In other cases, you will need a rehabilitation plan issued by a doctor treating you in the public healthcare system. If you do not attend therapy as planned or if you have not made any progress towards the goals of your therapy, you will need a rehabilitation plan issued by a psychiatrist working in the public healthcare system every year.
If you are under 18 and you want to apply for continued psychotherapy, you will need a rehabilitation plan issued by a psychiatrist who works in the public healthcare system every year.
You must go through a neuropsychological assessment and get a rehabilitation plan from a public healthcare provider before you can participate in neuropsychological rehabilitation.
The purpose of the neuropsychological assessment is to assess the nature of your specific difficulties, how extensive or severe your developmental learning difficulties or neuropsychological disorders are, what kind of impairment they cause and how they can be treated.
If you want to apply for continued neuropsychological rehabilitation, you need a rehabilitation plan issued by a doctor treating you in the public healthcare system.
When you apply for speech therapy for the first time, you will need a speech therapist’s assessment and a rehabilitation plan issued by a public healthcare provider that is based on the speech therapist’s assessment.
Do this before you apply for therapy from Kela
- You can use Kela’s service provider search (available in Finnish and Swedish) to learn more about the therapy service providers.
- Check that the service provider can take you on as a client.
- Contact the service provider you have chosen and agree with them on when you can start rehabilitation and on its schedule and terms and conditions, such as billing, cancellations and holidays or days off.
More information about how to apply for therapy as intensive medical rehabilitation.
Intensive multidisciplinary individual rehabilitation
Intensive medical rehabilitation can take the form of multidisciplinary individual rehabilitation.
Kela can grant you intensive multidisciplinary individual rehabilitation based on your rehabilitation plan (kuntoutussuunnitelma).
You will be supported by a team of experts when you participate in intensive multidisciplinary individual rehabilitation. They will help you find ways to make progress in your rehabilitation in your daily life.
Rehabilitation courses for adults aged 18 or over
Adults aged 18 or over can get the following kinds of intensive multidisciplinary individual rehabilitation:
- individual rehabilitation for persons with sensory disorders (vision impairment or combined vision and hearing loss)
- individual rehabilitation for persons with neurological disorders
- individual rehabilitation for persons with a spinal injury
- individual rehabilitation for persons with musculoskeletal disorders, rheumatic diseases and systemic disorders.
Rehabilitation courses for children and young persons
Children and young persons under 18 can get the following kinds of intensive multidisciplinary individual rehabilitation:
- individual rehabilitation for persons with sensory disorders (vision or hearing impairment or combined vision and hearing loss)
- individual rehabilitation for persons with systemic disorders or neurological disorders.
The rehabilitation course will be held on the service provider’s premises. Rehabilitation can also be offered partially remotely as video calls.
You will be given rehabilitation for 5–20 days depending on your rehabilitation needs. Rehabilitation courses that last for more than 10 days will usually be divided into multiple rehabilitation periods.
The rehabilitation needs and goals of each participant are taken into account.
Adults aged 18 or over
You can stay overnight at the rehabilitation facility or travel there from home each day. The facility offers accommodation in two-person rooms (double rooms). If you want to stay in a single room, you can ask the service provider if they have single rooms available. You have to pay the extra costs of staying in a single room yourself.
An adult family member or friend aged 18 or over can accompany you during the rehabilitation course if it supports your rehabilitation and helps you achieve your rehabilitation goals. They will usually stay in the same double room with you.
The rehabilitation course is offered in Finnish. Interpreter assistance is arranged for Swedish-speaking clients (with the exception of individual rehabilitation for persons with neurological disorders, where there is a Swedish-speaking service provider).
The course is offered in Finnish to Sámi-speaking customers. They can be assigned an interpreter if necessary.
Children and young persons
Rehabilitation courses for children and young persons are usually attended by the entire family. The family can stay overnight at the rehabilitation facility or travel there from home each day. The facility offers accommodation in a family room when family rooms are available.
The rehabilitation course is offered in Finnish. If you speak Swedish or one of the Sámi languages, Kela will provide an interpreter for you.
The following experts may contribute to the planning and management of your rehabilitation programme:
- a doctor
- a registered nurse
- a physiotherapist
- a psychologist
- a social worker.
More information about how to apply for intensive multidisciplinary individual rehabilitation.
Group rehabilitation for various conditions and disabilities
Intensive medical rehabilitation can be offered in the form of group rehabilitation.
Kela may grant you group rehabilitation based on your rehabilitation plan.
The goal of the rehabilitation is to help you and your family members and friends adapt to the changes brought on by your medical condition or disability.
During the rehabilitation course, you will learn ways to manage in your daily life, get information on your condition or disability and receive peer support from others in a similar situation.
Rehabilitation courses are available for adults, children and young persons and their accompanying family members and friends.
Kela offers the following kinds of rehabilitation to adults aged 18 or over as intensive medical rehabilitation:
- rehabilitation for adults with traumatic brain injury
- rehabilitation for persons who have had a cerebrovascular accident
- language rehabilitation for persons who have had a cerebrovascular accident
- arm and hand rehabilitation for persons who have had a cerebrovascular accident
- gait training course for persons who have had a cerebrovascular accident
- rehabilitation for persons with ALS
- rehabilitation for persons with epilepsy
- rehabilitation for persons with movement disorders
- Verso rehabilitation for persons with mental health disorders
- rehabilitation for persons with multiple sclerosis
- rehabilitation course in Swedish for persons with a visual impairment
- rehabilitation for persons with peripheral nerve disease or myopathy.
Kela offers the following kinds of rehabilitation to children and young persons as intensive medical rehabilitation:
- rehabilitation for children and young persons with an intellectual disability, multiple developmental disorders or multiple disabilities
- rehabilitation for children and young persons with Down syndrome
- rehabilitation for children and young persons with cerebral palsy or some other congenital physical disability
- rehabilitation for children with developmental language disorders
- rehabilitation for children with ADHD
- rehabilitation for children with mild to moderate autism spectrum disorders
- rehabilitation for children with an early-onset, severe autism spectrum disorder
- rehabilitation for children with inflammatory rheumatic diseases
- rehabilitation for children with rare diseases.
Check each individual rehabilitation page to see what ages each rehabilitation course is intended for.
How to apply
You need a rehabilitation plan (kuntoutussuunnitelma) issued by a public healthcare provider to apply for intensive medical rehabilitation. Things to know when you apply for psychotherapy, neuropsychological rehabilitation or speech therapy.
After you get a rehabilitation plan, do as follows:
- Complete the application form for intensive medical rehabilitation KU 104e (PDF).
- Save the blank form to your device. Do not fill in the form directly in the browser because some of the information may not be saved that way.
- Open the form with Adobe Reader and fill it in.
- Tell us in the application which service provider’s rehabilitation you want to participate in. If you want to apply for therapy or multidisciplinary individual rehabilitation, choose a service provider that provides services in your municipality of residence (kotikunta). If you want to apply for group rehabilitation on the application form (see the section Rehabilitation or adaptation training course), the service provider you choose can be located anywhere in Finland. Use Kela’s service provider search to look up rehabilitation service providers (available in Finnish and Swedish).
- Save the completed application form on your device. Note that the application must be in PDF format.
- Send the application in the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish). The parents or guardians of a child under the age of 18 can apply for rehabilitation in OmaKela on behalf of their child.
- Log in to OmaKela and select Tee hakemus tai ilmoita muutoksista (Submit an application or report changes). If you want to apply for rehabilitation on behalf of someone else, go to Asioi toisen henkilön puolesta (Act on behalf of another person). Read more about acting on behalf of another person.
- First select Sairastaminen ja kuntoutus (Sickness and rehabilitation). Then select Kuntoutus (Rehabilitation). Finally, select Vaativa lääkinnällinen kuntoutus (Intensive medical rehabilitation).
- If you send your application in OmaKela, you do not need to sign it.
- If you have supporting documents, send them via OmaKela after you have submitted your application. If they are paper documents, you can photograph them.
- Send us a copy of your rehabilitation plan as a supporting document with your application.
- Visit OmaKela to see if Kela has made a decision on your application. We will also send the decision notice to the rehabilitation service provider. This tells the service provider that Kela will pay for your rehabilitation, and the service provider will reserve a place for you on the rehabilitation course.
If you cannot use OmaKela, mail your application to Kela. Save the form to your device and fill it in after saving it. Print out the completed form and send it and any supporting documents to Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.
The earliest Kela can grant you rehabilitation is from the beginning of the month when Kela gets your application.
Apply for rehabilitation
Submit your application and supporting documents online.
Let us know if you cannot attend rehabilitation
Remember to tell Kela immediately if you cannot participate in the rehabilitation course. Let us know that you have to cancel by sending a message to us in the OmaKela e-service or by calling our customer service number for rehabilitation clients.
We recommend that you also contact the service provider to let them know you have to cancel.
Check if you can get rehabilitation allowance and travel cost reimbursements
Kela pays rehabilitation allowance to give you financial security during rehabilitation. Kela may also reimburse you for rehabilitation-related travel costs.
