Improving the quality of evidence production in rehabilitation. Results of the 5th Cochrane Rehabilitation Methodological Meeting.

The paper introduces the Special Sections of the European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine dedicated to the 5th Methodological Meeting of Cochrane Rehabilitation. It introduces Cochrane Rehabilitation; its vision, mission and goals; discusses why the Methodological Meetings were created; and reports on their organisation and previous outcomes. The core content of this editorial is the 5th Methodological Meeting held in Milan in September 2023. The original title for this meeting was "The Rehabilitation Evidence Ecosystem: useful study designs." The focus of the Milan meeting was informed by the lessons learned by Cochrane Rehabilitation in the past few years, by the new rehabilitation definition for research purposes, by the collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), and by the REH-COVER (Rehabilitation COVID-19 Evidence-Based Response) action. During the Meeting, participants discussed the current methodological evidence on the following: RCTs in rehabilitation coming from meta-epidemiological studies; observational study designs - specifically the IDEAL Framework (Idea, Development, Exploration, Assessment, Long-term study) and its potential implementation in rehabilitation and the Target Trial Emulation framework: Single Case Experimental Designs; complex intervention studies: health services research studies, and studies using qualitative approaches. The Meeting culminated in the development of a first version of a "road map" to navigate the evidence production in rehabilitation according to the previous discussions. The Special Sections' papers present all topics discussed at the meeting, and a methodological paper about choosing the right research question, presenting final results and the "road map" for evidence production in rehabilitation.

[Social work in medical rehabilitation - Development of an empirically grounded programme theory]. / Praxis der Sozialen Arbeit in der medizinischen Rehabilitation ­ Entwicklung einer empirisch fundierten Programmtheorie.

PURPOSE: Social workers are part of the interprofessional rehabilitation team. However, evidence for the effectiveness and a theoretically compatible description of their work are lacking. The aim of the research project "Sozialarbeiterischer Wirkmechanismen in der medizinischen Rehabilitation (SWIMMER)" was the development of a programme theory of social work in medical rehabilitation. METHODS: In this qualitative research project, we conducted interviews with social workers and leading staff, recorded counselling sessions, and made participant observation in rehabilitation facilities. Sampling and analysis were based on grounded theory. RESULTS: Data from 42 interviews, 14 counselling sessions and 140 hours of participant observations were analysed. Three core categories of a programme theory regarding practice of social work were developed: (i) work types (e. g., information work and supporting applications), (ii) interaction settings (exchange with rehabilitants, the rehabilitation team and external actors) and (iii) tasks of social services (e. g., development of vocational perspectives or professional/social participation, financial and social security). The consequences of social work practice were differentiated into output (e. g., number of applications submitted or options mentioned for a return to work) and outcome factors (e. g., participation in the society or a perspective on this and the well-being of the rehabilitants). A central characteristic is presented (co-production with the rehabilitants). CONCLUSION: The hypotheses of the mechanisms of action are grounded in the data and should be explored in further studies. In addition to being useful for practitioners, the model is also suitable for classifying the results of scientific studies.