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Undertaking rehabilitation research during the COVID-19 pandemic: Emergent strategies from a trainee-faculty workshop

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51224/SRXIV.95

Keywords:

COVID-19, Methods, Workshop, Rehabilitation Research

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to report the discussions of an interdisciplinary workshop aimed at understanding the challenges and corresponding strategies for conducting rehabilitation research during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Twenty-five rehabilitation researchers (17 trainees and 8 faculty) attended a two-hour facilitated online workshop in to discuss challenges and strategies they had experienced and employed to conduct rehabilitation research during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results: Rehabilitation researchers reported challenges with 1) pandemic protocol adjustments, 2) participant accessibility, and 3) knowledge dissemination, along with corresponding strategies to these challenges. Researchers experienced disruptions in study outcomes and intervention protocols to adhere to public health guidelines and have suggested implementing novel virtual approaches and study toolkits to facilitate offsite assessment. Participant accessibility could be improved by engaging community stakeholders in protocol revisions to ensure equity, safety, and feasibility. Researchers also experienced barriers to virtual conferences and publication, and suggested opportunities for smaller networking events, and revisiting timeframes for knowledge dissemination activities.

Conclusion: This workshop served as a catalyst for discussion among rehabilitation researchers to identify creative approaches that address the complexities of conducting rehabilitation research during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

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2021-12-23