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School of Medicine

Chair of Rehabilitation Sciences

Restoring and maintaining the functions and capabilities of the human body

The Chair of Rehabilitation Sciences at Witten/Herdecke University is based at the Königsfeld Clinic, Centre for Rehabilitation.

Rehabilitation encompasses measures and processes aimed at restoring, improving or maintaining functions and abilities that enable participation in daily life. It often follows on from acute medical care, which is primarily curative in nature. In rehabilitation, the curative aspects – that is, those focused on therapeutic treatment – are pursued further, particularly in terms of lifestyle changes that hold promise for the long term, with the key areas being exercise, nutrition and stress management. Rehabilitation also aims to help people cope with the consequences of illness or disability. Accordingly, curative and rehabilitative treatments often complement one another.

Demographic and epidemiological trends in Western societies are characterised by changes in both the age structure and the spectrum of morbidity, with a marked increase in chronic diseases, comorbidities and the consequences of illness. Medical rehabilitation is an established sector of healthcare that focuses primarily on chronic, behaviourally acquired conditions. 

In this context, it is no longer sufficient to focus solely on the biomedical foundations of a health disorder. In addition to treating diseases, medical practice must increasingly take into account the effects of the health disorder, with its multifaceted impairments to activity and participation, against the backdrop of the individual’s entire life context. The holistic bio-psycho-social model is therefore of fundamental importance to medical practice in rehabilitation, as it views diseases and their consequences against the backdrop of the affected individuals’ lived experiences.

The Chair’s research specialisation focuses on investigating and improving structures and processes in quality assurance, on developing guidelines, on prevention, and on the delivery and aftercare of rehabilitation.

Chair holder

Portrait picture of Prof Dr Frank Mooren

Prof. Dr. med.

Frank Mooren

Chair Holder

Faculty of Health (School of Medicine)  |  Chair of Rehabilitation Sciences

Holthauser Talstr. 2
58256 Ennepetal

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Research

The academic work covers both basic and applied research topics.
 

In the area of fundamental research projects, the focus is on:

  • The significance of extracellular vesicles for the exercise response in patients with coronary heart disease
  • Anti-inflammatory aspects of exercise and sport

  • The relevance of autoantibodies against G-protein-coupled receptors in endurance and strength training

     

In the area of applied projects, the following topics are being investigated:

  • Predictors of the individual training response in patients with coronary heart disease
  • Development of a digital twin for personalised cardiac rehabilitation
  • eHealth in cardiac rehabilitation and aftercare
  • Pathomechanisms, diagnostics and therapeutic approaches for post-COVID syndrome

Current research projects

Completed research projects

Graphic of two essays, shown abstractly, on a green background

Publications

All publications by the Chair of Rehabilitation Sciences at UW/H are listed in the university bibliography.

University bibliography

Teaching

The teaching programme focuses on providing students with patient-centred training in clinical and practical settings.

The team at the Chair of Rehabilitation Sciences