Healing hands help patients lead active life

A promising future ahead for rehabilitation

Also, as an associate professor at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, the physical therapist's daily work includes teaching young students.

Guo would ask the three to five students who follow him every day, to analyze the situation of the patient who was being attended to let them master the skill in real cases.

"These young people are the future of Chinese rehabilitation medicine," the 47-year-old therapist said.

"Academically educated therapists are strongly needed in many community hospitals and remote areas in China. The need of rehabilitation is only increasing as Chinese society is aging at a fast rate."

As 2021 marks the first year of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), which proposes to build a healthy China and actively respond to aging population, Guo showed his sanguine attitude to the development of rehabilitation in China.

"From birth to death, rehabilitation relates to the circle of everyone's life. For the foreseeable future, such medical treatment will be increasingly demanded as Chinese people's life quality improves."