Foundations of Rehabilitation (REHB90001)

This wholly online subject is a foundation subject to introduce students to selected core theory and frameworks that underpin the development and delivery of best practice evidence informed rehabilitation services across a range of disciplines and clinical practice contexts, across the lifespan. The subject will provide students with the opportunity to gain knowledge and develop skills related to the selection and delivery of appropriate and best practice rehabilitation services that are tailored to meet the needs of individuals, groups, or services. Students will gain skills, demonstrate understanding, and critically review the applicability of a range of models to deliver rehabilitation services including interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, community and home-based.

The subject is divided into modules to allow flexibility for students to choose areas of rehabilitation practice that best match their disciplinary interests or work context. Similarly, students will be given options for assessment that include the development of multidisciplinary or single discipline rehabilitation that can be used in a clinical context. All students will complete four modules within this subject.

A Foundational Module will be completed by all students and introduces the theory underpinning and defining key features of best practice in rehabilitation. A theoretical framework, based on the International Classification of Functioning (WHO), will be introduced as a method of classification and consideration of the rehabilitation needs of an individual. Students will acquire skills in mapping the impact of health conditions into multiple domains and considering the associated personal and environmental factors though a series of diverse case studies. The constructs of habilitation and rehabilitation will be explored in the context of lifelong disabilities. A range of models of rehabilitation services will be introduced.

Students will then choose two from four modules that best meets their learning interests and/or practice or discipline interests. These modules are:

1. Evidence based rehabilitation: Students selecting this module will develop the skills to identify literature related to a rehabilitation method or approach used in their own setting. Students will develop a concise summary of the existing evidence, critically evaluate the quality of evidence to support the chosen intervention, and interpret the clinical application of this technique.

2. Rehabilitation services: This module will extend students’ exploration of rehabilitation services in a range of settings in the context of two acquired health conditions of their choice. Students will identify and justify the core elements of rehabilitation services provided across a patient journey from acute care, into subacute, community outpatient and home based services, including explicit consideration of the environmental, social and cultural factors that may influence choice of services.

3. Habilitation and lifespan disability: This module will focus on extending students’ understanding of rehabilitation service interventions across the lifespan of an individual with a complex congenital or developmental disorder.

4. Rehabilitation policy and regulation: Students will identify and analyse the relevant government and local health policy that influences equitable access to rehabilitation services. This will be explored within their own context and contrasted with policy from other global regions. The potential influence of service access on patient outcomes will be considered in depth.

The final Integration module will be completed by all students and addresses the integration and application of evidence informed rehabilitation practice. This module provides students with an opportunity to extend and demonstrate skills in developing and justifying an evidence-informed rehabilitation program for an individual with a complex condition, with consideration of the individual’s personal, cultural and environmental factors.