ABSTRACT
Rehabilitation services are essential interventions designed to optimize functioning and reduce disability in individuals with health conditions. Eight core professions offer rehabilitation services: audiology, occupational therapy, physical and rehabilitation medicine, physiotherapy, psychology, prosthetics and orthotics, rehabilitation nursing, and speech-language pathology. These professions often work together to provide patient-centered care. Each rehabilitation profession has developed its own international or national document to describe entry-level competencies. However, it is not evident in the literature whether rehabilitation professions share the same core competencies. Therefore, we explored the international standards for rehabilitation professions to identify commonalities and differences in entry-level professionals’ required core competencies. A thematic analysis of current, published, international, or national entry-level competencies documents was conducted to determine commonalities and differences in the core competence requirements for the eight rehabilitation professions. The following four themes were evident across all professions: (a) evidence-based clinical practice knowledge and skills; (b) culturally competent communication and collaboration; (c) professional reasoning and behaviors; and (d) interprofessional collaboration. This thematic analysis highlighted the commonalities among rehabilitation professionals and may be used to provide a greater understanding of how rehabilitation professionals can support and work together on interprofessional teams.
Introduction
According to a systematic analysis, 2.41 billion individuals worldwide live with conditions that would benefit from rehabilitation services (Cieza et al., Citation2020). Globally, approximately 1 in 3 individuals require rehabilitation services during an illness or injury (Cieza et al., Citation2020). However, it has been estimated that in low and low-middle-income countries, only 3% of individuals who require rehabilitation can access these services (Khan et al., Citation2018). This global unmet need for rehabilitation services highlights the importance of offering rehabilitation services as an integral part of any health system (Cieza et al., Citation2020).
Rehabilitation has been defined as“a set of interventions designed to optimize functioning and reduce disability in individuals with health conditions in interaction with their environment” (World Health Organization, Citation2020a, para.1). Rehabilitation services can improve an individual’s functioning and ability to interact with their environment successfully and optimally (Vos et al., Citation2020). The rehabilitation workforce includes a wide range of healthcare professionals who collectively work to meet the extensive range of needs existing within populations. The World Health Organization (Citation2020a) identified eight core professions that offer rehabilitation services: audiology, occupational therapy, physical and rehabilitation medicine, psychology, physiotherapy, prosthetics and orthotics, rehabilitation nursing, and speech-language pathology. Each rehabilitation profession has developed a competence profile to support education, guide curriculum planning and development for entry-level professionals, and help to establish individual and service-wide development priorities (Mills et al., Citation2021).
Although diversity in the rehabilitation workforce is necessary and valuable, it can present a particular challenge to lower-resourced countries and settings attempting to educate, regulate, and sustain a diverse workforce with varied expectations (Mills et al., Citation2021). The WHO developed the Rehabilitation Competency Framework (RCF) to address this challenge. The RCF was created to recognize the range of activities the different rehabilitation professions perform and the core competencies that guide their education and clinical performance. The RCF does not define discrete standards of practice; it acts as a reference tool for creating contextually based competencies for the different rehabilitation professions (World Health Organization, Citation2020b). In developing the RCF, a mixed-method approach was taken, which included a modified Delphi study with representatives from each of the eight core rehabilitation professions (Mills et al., Citation2021). In addition, Mills et al. (Citation2021) conducted a content analysis of select existing rehabilitation competency frameworks. However, the commonalities and differences when comparing rehabilitation professions’ competency requirements for entry-level professionals are unclear. Therefore, we examined the international standards for rehabilitation professions to identify commonalities and differences in entry-level professionals’ required core competencies.
Method
A thematic analysis of current, published, international, or national entry-level competence profiles was conducted to determine common themes of the competence requirements for eight rehabilitation professions.
Information sources
Separate Google searches were conducted for international educational frameworks related to each rehabilitation profession. Web pages from each search were screened for competency frameworks until three consecutive pages elicited no more results. When international frameworks were unavailable through online searches, expert stakeholders in the related field were contacted to confirm that an international document did not exist for that profession. Next, the researchers agreed upon a published, freely available national document to represent the profession when international documents did not exist. The documents used to describe each rehabilitation profession can be found in .
Table 1. Educational standards/guidelines used for each rehabilitation profession.
Data synthesis
A thematic analysis informed by Nowell et al. (Citation2017), consisting of six phases, was conducted to compare the eight professions. First, the researchers familiarized themselves with each profession’s document and reviewed its definition of competence to ensure that the chosen documents described practice competencies. The definition of competence or competency for each profession’s document can be found in . In the second phase, initial codes were generated by the researchers from common topics and competencies that were identified when reviewing the documents. Then, all researchers agreed upon initial themes and subthemes using a consensus approach. In the third phase, themes and subthemes were searched and coded in each profession’s document. During the fourth phase, the researchers vetted the themes and subthemes, and in the fifth phase, a consensus approach was again used to define the final themes, subthemes and emerging themes. Finally, the sixth phase consisted of a final analysis of the data (Nowell et al., Citation2017).
Table 2. Definition of competence or competency.
The thematic analysis was performed on the eight rehabilitation professions’ documents using NVivo 12 software (NVivo Version 12.6.1). The researchers decided to identify initial codes by comparing the World Physiotherapy (WPT) guideline for entry-level physiotherapy education (World Physiotherapy WPT, Citation2021) to the minimum standards for the education of occupational therapists World Federation of Occupational Therapists (World Federation of Occupational Therapists WFOT, Citation2016). This process allowed the researchers to familiarize themselves with the documents and ensure that verbs used in one framework mapped to the other. This process also confirmed that both documents were at the same level of sophistication. Each document was then separately reviewed and coded. Common emerging codes were then grouped to form themes and sub-themes. After finding themes and subthemes, a second review was conducted to look for keywords to ensure all common themes and subthemes were noticed. Overlapping themes were then identified. The process was repeated for each rehabilitation profession’s published competencies document. The embedded themes and subthemes were then compared, and, if needed, keywords were searched again within each document to ensure that all common themes were discovered. Themes were created if there was a connection to each of the eight profession’s documents, subthemes were identified when there was a common link between five or more professions and emerging subthemes were identified in which there was a common link between at least three professions. A potential difference between professions’ competencies emerged when a theme emerged three but no more than five professions’ documents.
Results
Four themes were identified that directly link to all professions’ competency profiles: (a) evidence-based clinical practice knowledge and skills; (b) culturally competent communication and collaboration; (c) professional reasoning and behaviors; and (d) interprofessional collaboration. In addition, nine subthemes were identified in which there was a common link among five or more professions. displays the themes and subthemes derived from the thematic analysis of the eight identified rehabilitation professions and which professions’ documents are linked to each theme and subtheme. The themes and examples of competency language mapped to each theme will be presented using the four themes as subheadings.
Table 3. Themes and subthemes derived from the thematic analysis of eight rehabilitation professions.
Theme 1: evidence-based clinical practice knowledge and skills
All rehabilitation professions require practitioners to have current knowledge, skills, and abilities to implement evidence-based interventions and rehabilitation management programs while also monitoring, adapting, and redesigning treatment plans based on the patient’s needs and response to care. This theme included a need for foundational background knowledge in physical, social, and health sciences, which is used to inform clinical practice. Representative quotations from the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP), the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS), the International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics (IPSO), the Canadian Alliance of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Regulators (CAASPR) and WPT include the following:
Apply knowledge of physical sciences, social sciences, health sciences, culture, and natural sciences to professional practice. (IPSO 2018, p. 25)
Has the necessary foundational knowledge of psychological concepts, constructs, theories, methods, practice, and research methodology to support competence.” (I, Citation2016), p. 11)
Apply basic knowledge from relevant fields that apply to communication and feeding and swallowing across the lifespan. (Canadian Alliance of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Regulators CAASPR, Citation2018b, p. 8)
The physical therapist professional curriculum includes content and learning experiences in the clinical sciences (e.g. content about the cardiovascular, pulmonary, endocrine, metabolic, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, integumentary (skin), musculoskeletal and neuromuscular systems and the medical and surgical conditions frequently seen by physical therapists) (World Physiotherapy Citation2021).
Each of the eight professions provided an overview of the clinical practice knowledge and skills required for their field, including fundamental abilities such as physical assessments, interventions, and management strategies within the profession’s skill set and scope of practice. An example from the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ISPRM) demonstrates how clinical practice knowledge and skills were described:
Utilize appropriate diagnostic and assessments, both clinical and technical means, to explore functions, with eventual development of a rehabilitation management plan using pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic, physical, cognitive and behavioral treatments, as well as means for disease prevention.” (International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ISPRM), Citation2019)
In addition to the rehabilitation of individuals with disabilities, an emphasis on health promotion was evident within the competencies and considered essential knowledge. The following quotations from the WPT and the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses (ARN) demonstrate ideas around health promotion:
Advocate for improved societal health and wellness of individuals, the general public, and society, emphasising the importance of physical activity and exercise and the facilitation of such activities, and for the inclusion of both the client’s and physiotherapist’s perspective in decision-making.” (World Physiotherapy (WPT), Citation2021)
The use of risk reduction, harm prevention and health management promotion strategies, such as helmet safety, transportation services, nutrition education and lifestyle modifications, to promote and encourage wellness. Association of Rehabilitation Nurses (ARN), Citation2014 p. 11)
Furthermore, there was agreement that rehabilitation practitioners should be able to incorporate evidence-based knowledge into their clinical practices and remain current on advances in rehabilitation.
Adopts an evidence-based orientation to the provision of assessments, interventions, service delivery, and other psychological activities” (International Association of Applied Psychology IAAP & International Union of Psychological Science IUPsyS, Citation2016, p. 11).
Apply a critical understanding of the research literature and use the best available evidence and new knowledge to inform and adapt practice to ensure it is safe and effective (World Physiotherapy WPT, Citation2021).
Theme 2: culturally competent communication and collaboration
Within the documents reviewed, proficient communication skills appeared fundamental to the rehabilitation professionals’ clinical practice. Collaborating with patients to identify their rehabilitation needs and goals to optimize patient outcomes was highlighted throughout. Representative quotations from IAAP & IUPsys, WPT and WFOT include the following:
Communicates with diverse audiences as necessary for the effective conduct of one’s professional activities I (International Association of Applied Psychology IAAP & International Union of Psychological Science IUPsyS, Citation2016) p.14).
Communicate clearly, accurately, understandably, effectively in a culturally-competent manner to create trust and an appropriate environment for physiotherapy intervention, empowerment, and collaboration to enable good outcomes, both in person and when working remotely (World Physiotherapy WPT, Citation2021, p. 18)
Knowledge of the characteristics of therapeutic relationships and communication processes (World Federation of Occupational Therapists WFOT, Citation2016, p. 35).
Effective communication included the ability to demonstrate cultural humility. The International Declaration on Core Competencies in Professional Psychology clearly described the importance of cultural humility. “Cultural humility requires that psychologists strive to achieve humbleness in their interactions with clients; recognize that they are not the expert, and that they actively commit to being self-reflective and self-critiquing. Cultural humility entails the active inclusion of others’ cultural worldviews to develop authentic and respectful relationships; reflection on ones thoughts, feelings and behavior about their client’s cultural worldview, and commitment to engaging in a life-long learning process toward humility and respect for others” (International Association of Applied Psychology IAAP & International Union of Psychological Science IUPsyS, Citation2016, p. 5). Cultural humility as an important component of patient communication and collaboration was reinforced in many other professions competencies. The following quotations illustrate the theme of cultural competency:
Demonstrates a collaborative approach to planning, delivering and evaluating care that acknowledges and honors the client’s and family’s culture, values, beliefs and care decision-making. (Association of Rehabilitation Nurses (ARN), Citation2014, p. 9)
Practise using a culturally-competent, person-centred approach with respect for all forms of inclusion, diversity, dignity, privacy, autonomy, and human rights of the client, or legal guardian, who is seeking services regardless of whether the services are provided in person or remotely. (World Physiotherapy (WPT), Citation2021, p.17)
Each profession also agreed that recognizing the importance of understanding the patient’s perspective when developing and adapting plans of care was an important part of successful rehabilitation which are highlighted in the following quotations:
Establish client-centred goals and develop an individualised plan of evidence-based intervention using a context specific, active, functional rehabilitation approach in full collaboration with the client/carers. (World Physiotherapy (WPT), Citation2021, p.16)
Demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that result in effective exchange of information and collaboration with patients, their families, and other health professionals.” (ISPRM, Citation2019, p.9)
Advocacy for the patient, family and profession was seen as a component of communication and collaboration and was evident across all professions. The rehabilitation professional must advocate for appropriate patient services and resources to support the patient’s rehabilitation needs. Representative quotations from WPT and WFOT include the following:
Advocate for improved societal health and wellness of individuals, the general public, and society, emphasising the importance of physical activity and exercise and the facilitation of such activities, and for the inclusion of both the client’s and physiotherapist’s perspective in decision-making. (World Physiotherapy (WPT), Citation2021, p.17)
Human rights advocacy as a core principle across all areas of practice and in relation to disability issues and equitable access to all service. (World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT), Citation2016, p.10)
Rehabilitation nursing articularly emphasizes the importance of a collaborative approach to foster a patient’s self-advocacy and ability to self-manage their health by helping identify physical and psychosocial barriers to self-management and setting realistic self-management goals (ARN Citation2014).
Client advocacy is the safeguarding of a client’s autonomy, acting on behalf of the client, and empowering the client through education, collaboration, and support individuals living with chronic illness and/or disability. (Association of Rehabilitation Nurses (ARN), Citation2014, p.18)
The occupational therapy standards provided greater detail relating to advocacy and emphasized the importance of the professional being knowledgeable in human rights in relation to health and well-being, social determinants of health, national health needs, as well as health systems and relevant workplace legislation (World Federation of Occupational Therapists WFOT, Citation2016).
Theme 3: Professional Reasoning and Behaviours
Professional reasoning refers to the cognitive and decision-making processes professionals use to analyze and solve problems in their work. This form of reasoning involves integrating knowledge, skills, and experience to make sound judgments and decisions, often in complex and uncertain situations (Unsworth & Baker, Citation2016). All professions acknowledged that clinical judgment and reflection were needed to identify, monitor, and enhance clinical reasoning to minimize errors and enhance patient outcomes. Professional reasoning can include critical thinking, problem-solving, clinical reasoning, ethical decision-making, and reflection on practice. Quotations from IAAP & IUPsyS, WFOT and WPT that highlight professional reasoning include the following:
Designs, develops, and evaluates the potential usefulness and effectiveness of psychological interventions, using methods appropriate for the goals and purposes of the intervention. (International Association of Applied Psychology IAAP & International Union of Psychological Science IUPsyS, Citation2016, p. 14)
Skills in effectively locating, understanding, evaluation information, and applying information to practice, including justifying practice using theory and research results. (World Federation of Occupational Therapists WFOT, Citation2016), p.39)
Reflect on practice and seek support where needed to improve and develop one’s own personal and professional efficacy and effectiveness. (World Physiotherapy WPT, Citation2021, p. 19)
All professions highlighted the need for professionals to act within their professions’ ethical and legal boundaries while adhering to professional standards and regulatory requirements, as demonstrated by the language below:
Attitudes towards the value and necessity of ethical practice, as perceived and interpreted, within local, regional, national and global contexts, as well as the therapists’ ethical responsibilities to society. (World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT), Citation2016, p. 39)
Recognize and use critical judgment to respond to ethical issues encountered in practice (CAASPR, Citation2018b, p.16).
Furthermore, rehabilitation professionals are responsible for understanding and practicing within the limitations of their competencies.
Individuals entering prosthetic/orthotic occupations are expected to accept responsibility for their work within their scope of practice and comply with relevant ethical standards. (IPSO, 2018. p.24)
Stay informed of and comply with professional standards and regulatory and legislative requirements within one’s jurisdiction. Practice within the profession’s scope of practice and one’s personal capabilities. (CAASPR, Citation2018b, p.16)
Theme 4: Interprofessional collaboration
Working efficiently and effectively on an interprofessional team was a competency or standard for all rehabilitation professions. The importance of interprofessional collaboration in optimizing patient outcomes was embedded throughout each document, and the ability to appreciate and understand the roles of other health professionals and each profession’s unique contribution to patient care. The importance of interprofessional collaboration is demonstrated by the following quotation from ARN:
Collaborates with the client, family, and interprofessional team members regarding goals and priorities of the plan of care. Collaborates with the interprofessional team to develop and implement an evidence-based plan of care. (ARN, Citation2014, p.22)
Coordinate effectively and efficiently an interdisciplinary team of allied rehabilitation professionals for the maximum benefit of the patient through an understanding of each allied health professional’s role. (ISPRM, Citation2019, p.8)
Potential differences between rehabilitation professions’ competencies
Two potential differences were identified when reviewing and comparing all professions’ documents: (a) involvement in research; and (b) ensuring the education was relevant to the local context.
All eight documents clearly outlined that professionals must be able to use evidence and clinical reasoning to guide their rehabilitation care decisions. However, only three professions (prosthetics and orthotics, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy) highlighted that professionals disseminate research within their professions. Representative quotations from IPSO, WFOT and WPT include the following:
Demonstrate appropriate competencies in research (International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics ISPO, Citation2019, p. 24).
Participate in the introductory level research on occupation, social participation, health, wellness, human rights, inclusion of the “enablement” of populations, communities and individuals through professional engagement (World Federation of Occupational Therapists WFOT, Citation2016), p.11).
Contribute to professional practice through research according to recognized standards and ethical practices, and research dissemination, appreciating the inter-dependence of practice, research, and education within the profession (World Physiotherapy WPT, Citation2021), p.18).
Three professions (prosthetics and orthotics, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy) expressed that education should be relevant to the local context and the health and social needs of the population. This concept was clearly described and incorporated throughout WFOT’s Minimum standards for the education of occupational therapists’ document. The WFOT draws upon UNESCO’s Position paper on education post-2015 by highlighting the need for education programs that train professionals to be competent in their local environment (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO, Citation2014). This focus on the local environment supports the continual improvement and development of quality education programs and helps strengthen connections to associated international professional communities (World Federation of Occupational Therapists WFOT, Citation2016).
Occupational therapy was the only profession to clearly describe that practitioners should be able to monitor and preserve their own health within the practice setting. The idea of monitoring one’s health is emphasized in the following quotation:
Skills in monitoring and preserving one’s own and other’s health within a practice setting, while delivering a quality, timely service. (World Federation of Occupational Therapists WFOT, Citation2016, p. 41)
Discussion
This thematic analysis highlighted the commonalities in core competencies among rehabilitation professionals. As evident by the common themes found in this thematical analysis and by the work of Mills et al. (Citation2021), there are many core competencies that can be seen to be shared across rehabilitation professions (Mills et al., Citation2021). Although the foundational knowledge and skills varied among the professions, applying the essential skills was universally focused on providing high-quality, culturally competent, evidence-based, interprofessional, patient-centered care. The primary objective of optimizing rehabilitation outcomes and integrating the patient into society resulted in competencies that are shared among different professions and supports interprofessional collaboration. Interprofessional collaboration is essential for competent, cost-effective, culturally responsive healthcare (Davidson & Waddell, Citation2005; Levett-Jones et al., Citation2012; McClelland & Kleinke, Citation2013) and involves the combination of competencies from several healthcare providers to ensure holistic patient care (Bosch & Mansell, Citation2015).
Culturally competent communication and collaboration with other professionals and the patient were seen throughout the documents reviewed. An UNESCO position paper emphasized that “culture is understood as an essential component of human development; it is a source of identity, innovation, and creativity, and intercultural dialogue and the recognition of cultural diversity are key for social cohesion” (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO, Citation2014, p. 2). Cultural competence in patient care requires rehabilitation professionals to understand that social and cultural influences will impact their patients’ beliefs and behaviors (Betancourt et al., Citation2003). Professionals must also consider how these sociocultural factors may interact at different levels of the healthcare delivery system and be able to design interventions that take these sociocultural influences into account to ensure quality healthcare delivery (Betancourt et al., Citation2003).
Cultural competency is essential in cross-cultural settings as it forms the basis for productive collaboration between healthcare professionals and their patients. Cultural minorities encounter multiple challenges affecting access to care and outcome success (Grandpierre et al., Citation2018). By facilitating healthcare systems to provide services that address patients’ and practitioners’ social, cultural, and linguistic requirements, cultural competency enables the effective delivery of healthcare services (Australian Integrative Medicine Association (AIMA) (Citation2020). Interprofessional cultural competency involves acknowledging and valuing the broad spectrum of healthcare practices, paradigms, and terminologies patients and practitioners use (AIMA, Citation2020). To support interprofessional, patient-centered care, it is vital to perform culturally competent interprofessional communication that is respectful and supports patients’ choices of multiple health services (Hunter et al., Citation2021).
Evidence-based practice has been shown to enhance rehabilitation outcomes (Tilson & Mickan, Citation2014) and improve healthcare quality (Moore & Graham, Citation2022). As best practices evolve and the standard of care changes, it is essential for rehabilitation professionals to be capable of regularly adjusting their practices accordingly (Cutrer et al., Citation2017). Constant advances in rehabilitation and medicine require clinical practitioners to participate in continued professional development to ensure they have the requisite skills for competent practice (Mlambo et al., Citation2021; Regalado et al., Citation2023). Furthermore, to provide effective evidence-based practice, clinicians must be able to adapt the recommendations from the literature to the local context (Tilson & Mickan, Citation2014), further highlighting the need for cultural competence.
Reflective practice in health care is a valuable learning tool as it provides rehabilitation professionals with opportunities to recognize their strengths and weaknesses and can help direct life-long learning (Koshy et al., Citation2017). This reflective process is an essential component of professional reasoning and behavior. Reflection and the use of reflective practices have been described in multiple rehabilitation professions, including medicine (Durning et al., Citation2011), nursing (Jensen & Saylor, Citation1994; Patel & Metersky, Citation2022), physical therapy (Ziebart & MacDermid, Citation2019), occupational therapy (Kinsella, Citation2001), and speech-language pathology (Caty et al., Citation2015). Utilizing a reflection fosters critical reflection skills, ultimately improving clinical decision-making (Wainwright et al., Citation2011.
In addition to collaborating with individuals with disabilities throughout their rehabilitation, an emphasis on health promotion was noted in several competencies with a focus on providing preventive care to both impaired and healthy populations using the WHO’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health model as a guideline for assessment. Health promotion can assist with increasing the quality of years of healthy life (Thompson, Citation2015) and rehabilitation professionals are uniquely positioned to promote health and wellness with patients and into community programming to address risk factors associated with lifestyle-related noncommunicable diseases (Larazo, Citation2020). Recent studies have shown that people with multiple healthy behaviors have a reduced risk of major chronic diseases and a greater quality of life (May et al., Citation2015). The integration of rehabilitation into healthcare systems has also been highlighted in WHO’s Rehabilitation 2030 Call for Action (World Health Organization, Citation2017).
Interestingly, occupational therapy was the only profession to acknowledge that practitioners should be able to monitor and preserve their health within the practice setting (World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT), Citation2016). This potential lack of focus on the professional’s health is significant to highlight as it is evident in the literature that occupational burnout is a serious health issue for healthcare practitioners (De Hert, Citation2020). Burnout is a work-related stress syndrome with symptoms including depersonalization, exhaustion, and lack of efficacy (De Hert, Citation2020). Burnout has been associated with physical and mental health declines and relationship issues (Salyers et al., Citation2017). Burnout has also been negatively associated with organizational functioning, including reduced job commitment and employee turnover (Salyers et al., Citation2017). Furthermore, burnout among healthcare workers has resulted in decreased quality of patient care and lower patient satisfaction, mainly when resources are low (De Hert, Citation2020; Salyers et al., Citation2017).
Limitations
There are multiple limitations to the present thematic analysis that are worth noting. First, the authors involved in the analysis are all physiotherapists. Therefore, confirmation bias may have occurred when reviewing the (World Physiotherapy WPT, Citation2021) document. Another area for improvement is the use of national frameworks. To try to capture a global perspective for each profession, international documents were used as they are believed to reflect the accreditation standards of each profession regardless of geographical location. However, an international document only existed for some professions. Without international standards or competencies, the frameworks used for audiology and speech-language pathology chosen were developed by CAASPR. As a result, these professions may only be representative of the Canadian context. Similarly, the framework used for rehabilitation nursing was created by the Association of Rehabilitation Nursing, which is based in the United States of America. Therefore, this report may heavily reflect the views of North America and not be reflective of other countries or cultures.
Conclusions
Rehabilitation professionals are encouraged to collaborate on interprofessional teams to optimize patient/client-centered care. To respond to the growing need to support and develop health systems that can respond to the global need for rehabilitation services, understanding the commonalities and expected competencies between the rehabilitation professions can help to facilitate interprofessional collaboration and the creation of meaningful shared resources to advance rehabilitation globally. By understanding the commonalities and differences across rehabilitation professions, future initiatives will be able to develop international rehabilitation education and resources to support regulation, education, and training initiatives which can positively impact the rehabilitation workforce capacity of low and low-middle-income countries where resources are scarce.
Acknowledgments
The researchers of this manuscript would like to acknowledge and thank the Physiopedia team for their supporting contributions towards making this research possible.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Nicole Beamish
Dr. Nicole Beamish BKin, MScPT, Ph.D., is a physiotherapist and an assistant professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies at Queen’s University. Her teaching and research interests focus on creating active and experiential learning opportunities for future health professionals in the areas of exercise testing, prescription and interprofessional care.
Cheryl Footer
Dr. Cheryl Burditt Footer completed a BA degree in Exercise Science from Occidental College (1987) and physical therapy degrees (Master’s-1990; Ph.D. 1999) from the University of Miami. At the core of Dr. Footer’s academic and clinical practice career lies a strong ethical foundation that balances power and privilege with humility and perspective in preparing future leaders to meet the growing needs for rehabilitation around t2he world. Her passion for collaboration in rehabilitation education is evidenced through a broad publication and presentation history that shares her extensive experience, leadership, and commitment to developing and implementing academic initiatives around the globe.
Rachael Lowe
Rachael Lowe, BSc (Hons), is the President of Physiopedia, CEO of Physiopedia Plus and the co-founder of both. She is a physiotherapist and is the partner lead for Physiopedia in the ReLAB-HS consortium.
Shala Cunningham
Dr. Shala Cunningham, PT, DPT, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Radford University, teaching within the Doctor of Physical Therapy Curriculum. Her research interests focus on the influence of entry-level and post-graduate education on the development of clinical reasoning skills and implementation of evidence-informed patient care, as well as best practices for implementing interprofessional education for pre-licensure healthcare students.
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