9 General introduction Casus In 2005, when I was in the first year of my physiotherapy education, my grandfather fell off his bike. This resulted in a intertrochanteric hip fracture, for which he received a gamma nail. At that time geriatric rehabilitation in the Netherlands was not yet as organized as it is today, which is why my grandfather went home for his rehabilitation. At that time he lived in a care home where there was continuous care if needed. The therapies he needed were provided by therapists who visited the care home a few times a week. My grandfather received a schedule with exercises and walking distances to practice every day. As a physiotherapy student, I took him for a daily walk when it was not yet safe to do this independently, and I was present at most of his therapy sessions. The therapists structurally reported my grandfather’s progress to the nursing staff, so they could take this into account in the amount of support they offered my grandfather. Due to the lack of challenge, my grandfather had few therapeutic activities outside of therapy sessions. After ten weeks of rehabilitation, my grandfather was able to walk without walking aid and was independent in his activities of daily living. Background Worldwide the population is aging, which is, among other things, reflected in an increased life expectancy. Since 1990, life expectancy has increased by almost 9 years to 72.8 years globally in 2019 and is expected to increase further to approximately 77.2 years globally in 2050.1 This aging also shows in the number of persons aged 65 years or over. In 1980 there were 258 million people aged 65 years or over, a number that has grown to 771 million in 2022 and is expected to grow to 994 million by 2030 and 1.6 billion by 2050. This results in a rise of the share of the global population aged 65 years or above from 10% in 2022 to 16% in 1
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTk4NDMw