State-of-the-Science on Postacute Rehabilitation: Setting a Research Agenda and Developing an Evidence Base for Practice and Public Policy. An Introduction

The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Measuring Rehabilitation Outcomes and Effectiveness along with academic, professional, provider, accreditor, and other organizations, sponsored a 2-day State-of-the-Science of Post-Acute Rehabilitation Symposium in February 2007. Its purpose was to serve as a catalyst for expanded research into rehabilitation postacute care (PAC) so that policy for such care is founded on a solid base of evidence. The goals were to: (1) describe the extent of current knowledge regarding utilization, organization, and outcomes of postacute rehabilitation settings, (2) identify methodologic and measurement challenges to conducting research, (3) foster the exchange of ideas among researchers, policy-makers, industry representatives, funding agency staffs, consumers, and advocacy groups, and (4) identify critical issues related to setting, delivery, payment, and effectiveness of rehabilitation services. Plenary presentations and state-of-the-science summaries were organized around 4 themes: (1) the need for improved measurement of key rehabilitation variables and methods to collect and analyze this information, (2) factors that influence access to postacute rehabilitation care, (3) similarities and differences in quality and quantity of services across PAC settings, and (4) effectiveness of postacute rehabilitation services. The full set of symposium articles, including recommendations for future research, appears in this issue of the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.