are also answered in the Stolperstein special edition, "Rehabilitation". Ask the Stolperstein editorial office about it!

1. Is the patient allowed home during rehabilitation?
In principle, the patient is free to come and go during inpatient rehabilitation and can naturally also leave the clinic's grounds. However, official leave must be reported to the cost bearers. Leave can be meaningful in order to test whether the patient can already cope again in his domestic surroundings. In some cases, the patient's visit to his domestic surroundings can be useful on emotional grounds. However, this is not particularly sensible for most patients because of the severity of the disease and the need for inpatient care. Nevertheless, this subject may well be worth broaching for younger patients who are already mobile outdoors. However, as a rule, the patients also have a treatment programme over the weekend, so this must be discussed first.

2. Can the patient's private surroundings also contribute towards rehabilitation?
The domestic surroundings and the support from relatives and friends cannot be valued highly enough. In many cases, the patient can only be provided with a prosthesis when suitable support is guaranteed in the domestic surroundings. Whenever possible, the relatives are trained by the occupational therapists and physiotherapists on our premises to help the patient when donning the prosthesis. Conversion of the living quarters is also discussed and implemented together with the relatives. The private surroundings also contribute towards stabilising the patient emotionally. The decision as to whether the patient is to be provided with a prosthesis at all sometimes depends on whether the domestic surroundings can provide the suitable support.

3. Who pays for the rehabilitation?
As a rule, the social insurance agencies in Germany bear the costs (statutory health insurers, pension fund, accident insurers) insofar as the patient has the suitable cover.

4. In which cases is outpatient rehabilitation possible; when is inpatient care needed?
In principle, all amputees should undergo inpatient rehabilitation. An exception to this would be procedures for long-term amputees with prostheses for a refresher course. The complexity of the required procedures can usually only be dealt with in an inpatient setting. Further, during the first few weeks after the operation, patients also need nursing care that cannot be guaranteed in the domestic surroundings.

5. Can I choose my own rehabilitation clinic as the patient?
The responsible cost bearer (pension fund, statutory health insurer, mutual indemnity association) chooses the rehabilitation unit if the attending doctor or social services file the corresponding application. Rehabilitation for amputees is usually provided close to home. This procedure does not provide for any direct influence on the selection of the unit by the patient. However, from our viewpoint, patients who have reached majority can clearly be recommended to grasp the initiative if an unsuitable unit (for example, on costs grounds) has been chosen or suggested.