From rehabilitation to prevention: The evolving role of physical therapy in healthcare policy transformation and health equity—A systematic review based on South Korea’s development experience

Mengjun Hu, Qiushuo Tian, Tae-Ho Kim

Article ID: 3714
Vol 5, Issue 2, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54517/jelp3714
Received: 8 May 2025; Accepted: 22 May 2025; Available online: 10 June 2025; Issue release: 30 June 2025


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Abstract

With the rise of the global concept of green healthcare, the role of physical therapy in transforming healthcare policies has been further extended to the fields of resource conservation and environmental sustainability. Using a systematic literature review methodology and taking South Korea as a representative case, it systematically analyzes how physical therapy, through non-pharmacological interventions, preventive services, and the application of digital technologies. It found that physical therapy can significantly reduce the consumption of medical resources, decrease the generation of medical waste, and improve service efficiency. It also explores the evolution of laws of physical therapy in terms of policy frameworks, educational approaches, and service delivery models. The research shows that South Korea has made physical therapy the core carrier of environmentally friendly medical interventions by integrating green technologies, optimizing service processes, and reconstructing the primary service network. Thus, it promotes the innovation of healthcare policies towards low-carbon and high-efficiency directions. Driven by the continuous evolution of healthcare policies, physical therapy has transformed from a tool for postoperative rehabilitation into the main body of data-based and legalized public health interventions, participating in health governance, and achieving quantifiable results, and cost-effectiveness in aspects such as accessibility, user awareness, fairness, and effectiveness. These reform practices provide a law-based governance paradigm for global health policy transformation, offering empirical references for countries to optimize healthcare governance frameworks through institutional innovation. Particularly in critical areas such as health equity, well-being in aging populations, and integrated community care, physical therapy demonstrates substantial structural institutional value. This paper recommends that, during healthcare policy transitions, countries should strengthen the institutional integration of physical therapy from multiple dimensions, including legal frameworks, financial support, and professional training, to enhance system resilience and promote comprehensive health and well-being.


Keywords

green healthcare; physical therapy; active ageing; healthcare system reform; health equity; public well-being


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