[Sport and kinesiotherapy within the framework of health resort clinics for prevention and medical rehabilitation (author's transl)].

: In most treatment clinics a considerable portion of the treatment programme, is terms of space as well of time occupied, is dedicated to the kinesiotherapy field. Based on the register of the Verband Deutscher Rentenversicherungstrager (Federation of German Pension Insurance Institutes), 433 health resort clinics were surveyed by mail in 1978/79 in order to obtain information on their sport and kinesiotherapy situations. The present findings are based on the replies of 206 clinics, corresponding to 55 percent (i.e. 39,840 beds) of the initial total of beds. The majority of patients covered suffered from disorders of inner organ function (66 percent) or from musculo-sceletal impairments (22 percent). Actual delivery of the sport and kinesiotherapy programmes lies with massage and balneology personnel in 60 percent, physiotherapists and gymnastics teachers in 32 percent of cases, and only in some 2.5 percent are the measures implemented by qualified sport teachers. The question is discussed whether these percentages are compatible with the health educational goals of present-day concepts for preventive or rehabilitative medical treatment in the health resort clinics. Changes are needed both at the staffing and organisational levels (staffing schedules, space allotment) if the pension insurance institutes' approach of "health do it yourself" is to prove successful in this field.