Professor Li Jian'an, International Member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, Outlines Current Status and Future Prospects of the Rehabilitation Industry in Pre-IPO Filing

On the afternoon of October 21, the High-Level Forum on Collaborative Development Models for Multidisciplinary Integration in the Health and Wellness Industry, held as part of the Lishui Special Session of the Nanjing 2021 Golden Autumn Investment Fair, along with the Industrial Forum on Building a Full-Chain Rehabilitation Industry Base in Lishui District, was successfully convened.Experts from industry, academia, and research communities both in China and abroad have gathered to focus on the full-chain development of the health and wellness industry, engaging in cross-sector discussions on a multi-disciplinary integrated model for coordinated industrial growth.

Professor Li Jian'an, International Fellow of the U.S. National Academy of MedicineA comprehensive review ofCurrent Status and Development Prospects of the Rehabilitation Industry, the main contents are as follows:

The "Healthy China 2030" document states that health should serve as the action agenda for the next 15 years, with health prioritized as a strategic development priority. The broad-health industry encompasses a wide range of areas, including medical devices, facilities, rehabilitation institutions, professional personnel, smart assistive technologies, food, pharmaceuticals, integration of sports and medicine, and integration of elderly care and healthcare; it is by no means limited to manufacturing alone.

Against the backdrop of the broader health and wellness industry, in June this year, the National Health Commission, in conjunction with other ministries, issued the “Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Rehabilitation Medical Services,” a programmatic document for the rehabilitation medical sector. The document highlights several key points: First, establish and improve the rehabilitation medical service system, extending beyond tertiary hospitals to communities to form a complete service chain; Second, strengthen talent development and workforce building; Third, enhance service capacity; Fourth, innovate service models in rehabilitation medicine; Fifth, increase support and safeguards.

Early rehabilitation must be emphasized, and a comprehensive service chain spanning treatment, rehabilitation, and nursing care should be established. Particular importance should be placed on leveraging the core role of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in disease recovery, while promoting cross-sector integration, such as the integration of sports and medicine, and the integration of health preservation with elderly care.

“Integration of Clinical Care and Rehabilitation”This is a crucial concept. We must resolutely move beyond the siloed mindset of rehabilitation medicine as a single specialty, ensuring that every clinical discipline incorporates rehabilitation components. Many techniques in rehabilitation medicine must become universal skills, thereby forming a complete continuum of prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation, and achieving an integrated approach to medicine. The "integration of clinical care and rehabilitation" will ensure that all healthcare professionals in the future, particularly general practitioners, possess fundamental rehabilitative concepts, and that community nurses are equipped with basic rehabilitative skills.

The production and R&D of rehabilitation medical devices for the general public (consumer-facing) will be a development trend.First, national policy mandates that every provincial capital and prefecture-level city must have rehabilitation hospitals at Level II or above, and that in every county-level city with a population of 300,000, at least one public county hospital must establish a department of rehabilitation medicine. This ensures an adequate number of rehabilitation institutions. Second, the service network should be improved. Equipment manufacturers should shift their focus from high-cost devices to more affordable ones, expanding the range of rehabilitation equipment suitable for home and community use. By leveraging intelligent technologies to create an interconnected network, hospitals can guide patients in performing rehabilitation exercises at home. This approach is not only the most effective but also represents the future trend of development.

The direct connection between the Healthy China Strategy and rehabilitation medicine lies inFirst, the medical model must be transformed, shifting from a treatment-centered approach to a health-centered one., the goal of treatment is to improve health status.Second, the health insurance model must be reformed to support effective medical care, with functional improvement serving as the primary clinical outcome indicator.

I hope everyone can strive for active aging. In China, there is a saying that “at thirty, one stands firm.” At the age of 30, human physiological function reaches its peak; after middle age, it gradually declines, and by the age of 60, it drops rapidly. However, in reality, we can delay functional decline through exercise and physical training, enabling us to live to 100 years of age while remaining physically active throughout. This is the value of exercise training.

We need toAdvocate"Exercise is Medicine" TrendPhysical exercise can enhance cardiopulmonary function, improve bone mineral density, optimize metabolism, and help regulate blood glucose and blood pressure, thereby delaying the aging process. Lishui boasts a substantial number of sports organizations, particularly innovative ones, making it an ideal hub for the integration of sports with medicine and health wellness. The challenge lies in organically integrating sports institutions with medical facilities, and aligning the Sports Bureau with the Health Commission, to foster a new industrial model. This approach would highlight the therapeutic, preventive, and rehabilitative value of exercise, ultimately enabling patients to reintegrate into society.

The trend toward the advancement of smart rehabilitation is unstoppable.A wearable device has been launched in the U.S. market that integrates monitoring of vital signs—such as body temperature, pulse, respiration, blood pressure, and motion status—into a vest, enabling real-time monitoring and positioning. This innovation transforms hospital-based medical monitoring models: in emergencies, automatic alerts are triggered without the need for manual button presses, ensuring that medical centers, emergency response systems, and family members are notified immediately. This advancement is poised to bring about significant changes in medical paradigms and treatment approaches; for instance, large, fixed lower-limb robotic devices may be replaced by lightweight, portable, and cost-effective alternatives.