Why do professionals not consider maximizing physical functioning the only important target of medical rehabilitation nowadays?

Welcome.

Yeah, I see. Thank you for the explanation.

Historically medical rehabilitation efforts have sought to "restore" patients to their fullest levels of physical functioning. Originally, this was undertaken to encourage patients to enter or return to remunerative occupations by altering patients in ways that made them more physically capable of dealing with an unaltered world. This has remained an important part of the rehabilitative process, particularly in the acute stages, when it is still unknown what level of physical functioning people with new disabilities will be able to regain. However, the goal of maximizing physical functioning can also have unintended psychological consequences for the patient, particularly when carried to extreme levels. Narrowly focused efforts to help people maximize their physical functioning can lead to feelings of shame about their disability by emphasizing the notion that their limitations were unacceptable and needed to be removed.