Undergraduate Rehabilitation Education and Clinical Practice: Stakeholder Perspectives on Areas of Research Need

Background: There remains some uncertainty on the role and nature of undergraduate-level rehabilitation education (URE) programs and service providers The existing research remains wide-ranging and limited. Objectives: This study evaluated perspectives from URE program stakeholders on key areas of research need relating to (a) undergraduate rehabilitation education, (b) URE graduate professional identity, and (c) professional issues relevant to URE. Methods: Surveys of URE perspectives on areas of research need were completed by thirty-nine URE stakeholders. A qualitative content analysis was utilized to identify themes within the data. Findings: Participants identified a variety of areas of research need within the three broad content categories. Frequently cited topics included URE graduate outcomes, the place of URE programs and service providers in the greater field of rehabilitation, program accreditation, and areas of best practice in URE. Conclusions: The findings of the current study highlight multiple areas of research need. To best prepare URE graduates for success and to bolster the current status of the field of rehabilitation, a better understanding of the role and nature of URE will be valuable.