Rehab Forward 2026

Opening the day, Lindsay Bearne (NIHR Research Professor of Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation at City St George’s University of London), emphasized the importance of community rehabilitation in the current health and social care landscape. She highlighted the work of the CRRN to build research capacity among community practitioners. Finally, detailing her current projects, including the MOSAIC2 research programme focused on walking exercise for intermittent claudication and her NIHR Research Professorship in Community Rehabilitation that includes developing self-management and M-health interventions for people with peripheral arterial disease.

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Vicki Goodwin OBE (Professor of Ageing & Rehabilitation at University of Exeter) illuminated her inspiring career journey from therapy assistant to leading clinical academic. Sharing lessons that have helped her move forward in her research journey, including the need for curiosity, determination & resilience, the importance of finding the right mentors and supervisors, networking conversations, raising your head above the parapet, building a wider skillset than academia alone, and focusing on involvement to remember the key reason we do research is to empower and benefit service users.

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A key theme of the event was understanding different paths into research activity and clinical academia. Our panel of early career researchers, practitioners & service leads was facilitated by Wilson Muleya (Professor of Social Work, Head of School of Health and Social Care at Swansea University).

The discussion explored different ways to be active in research, taking inspiration from the journeys of panel members:

• Dr Dev Ahuja (Healthcare Innovator, case manager and clinical academic)
• Jodie Adams (NIHR Doctoral Fellow, musculoskeletal physiotherapist and Research Officer for AGILE)
• Michelle Price (AHP Lead for Rehabilitation Performance and Improvement, supporting research delivery and implementation in NHS Wales)
• Rachel Sibson (Occupational Therapist and Lead Community Neurological Rehabilitation Therapist, supporting research activity in SW London NHS services).

Discussion points included ways to overcome challenges of community rehabilitation research, balancing clinical and research commitments, job security and organisational barriers. Panellists shared tips on what works well, including pro-research line management, shared learning, applied research and aligning clinical and research priorities.

Dr Jill Halstead Rastrick (Podiatrist and Clinical Lead for Research at Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust & Research Delivery Network community setting lead for Yorkshire and Humber) and Hannah Brady Sawant (District Nurse, Senior Research Nurse and Queen’s Nurse at Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust) shared their work developing a third sector research delivery toolkit. The toolkit includes learning and support resources and a third sector user-friendly checklist for research activities covering research focus, academic support, clarity, confidence, resources, capacity, skills, tools, ethics, safeguarding, equitable relationships and dissemination plans.

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Dr Alex Street (Music Therapist and Senior Research Fellow at Anglia Ruskin University & member of the Cambridge Institute of Music Therapy Research (CIMTR)) shared his community research experiences in music-based neurorehabilitation following brain injury in children and adults, incorporating innovative technology to improve patient accessibility and treatment efficacy for community-based upper limb rehabilitation.

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Dr Tom Adler (General Practitioner & co-founder of Peak Medtek Ltd who develop innovations to support rehabilitation and healthy ageing) shared his latest innovation called Bide, a device designed to help to prevent nighttime falls in high-risk individuals, including people with dementia living at home or in a social care setting.

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To increase confidence, capacity and capability in community rehabilitation research, our practical skills development workshops included:

Making sense of evidence for practice facilitated by Tina Hadley - Barrows (Musculoskeletal Consultant Physiotherapist and NIHR Applied Research Collaboration West Midlands Knowledge Mobilisation Fellow at the Impact Accelerator Unit, Keele University) and Dr Jackie McRae (Speech & Language Therapist, Clinical Academic at City St George’s University of London, NIHR supervisor, mentor & PASF panel member). The session included practical skills to develop and deliver critically appraised topic (CAT) groups in practice environments.

Developing a research question from a clinical idea facilitated by Jane Wilcock (Principal Research Fellow at University College London and National Academic and Strategic Lead for the NIHR Research Methods Academy) and Prof Andrew Bateman (Professor in Rehabilitation, Interdisciplinary Research & Practice Divisional Lead at University of Essex & Lead of the Acquired Brain Injury & Social Care Incubator). The session focused on best practice in developing research questions, including consultations & involvement.

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Creating research culture in your team facilitated by Louise Shelley (Advanced Speech and Language Therapist and Professional Lead for Adult Speech and Language Therapy in North Yorkshire) and Dr Christine Comer (Physiotherapist and Clinical Research Fellow at Leeds Community Healthcare Trust). The session used case studies as a basis to consider what is needed for building research culture within community services and developing a research-focused and engaged team.

Working in partnership with diverse communities facilitated by Ade Ogunsolu (PPIE Manager for the NIHR Rehabilitation HealthTech Research Centre at Nottingham University Hospitals) and Prof Fiona Jones (CEO of Bridges Self-Management and Professor of Rehabilitation Research at City St George’s University of London). The session considered strategies to work with diverse communities and covered the skills needed to develop a public advisory group to support community research involvement and engagement.

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Community rehabilitation is central to the NHS 10-Year plan for effective sustainable healthcare with a focus on prevention and a strategic shift from hospital to community care.

Our event helped community practitioners to foster connections, share research journeys and learn new research skills. The positive energy and the drive to build community rehabilitation research capacity was palpable.

In her closing address, Prof Lindsay Bearne signposted where to look for further support, including:

• The NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN)
• The Community Healthcare Alliance of Research Trusts (CHART)
• The NIHR Associate Principal Investigator Scheme (Associate PI)
• NIHR Research Support Service (RSS)
• NHS England Multi-professional Practice-based Research Capabilities Framework
• Society for Rehabilitation Research (SRR)
• Community for Allied Health Professional Research (CAHPR)
• Sign up for the NIHR evidence bulletin
• Contact the Community Rehabilitation Research Network (CRRN)

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The day provided a forum for networking, peer learning and forging connections to underpin future collaborations and the poster session showcased a wide range of innovative projects including:

• Understanding current research activity and outputs, research perceptions and aspirations in an NHS Healthcare organisation: A mixed methods evaluation by Victoria Carruthers (Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust), Christine Comer (Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust), Ben Foxcroft (Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust), Soujanya Yarlagadda (Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust) & Jill Halstead-Rastrick (Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust). The study revealed that nearly two thirds of the organisation’s community services undertook little or no research. Research activity was greatest in specialist care services and those with a clinical academic within their team. Senior leaders and managers aspired to increase research activity, although managers were less confident to achieve this.
• Using the Behaviour Change Wheel to Co-Design the REACH-SCI (Reducing sedEntary Activities to improve Cardiovascular Health in individuals with Spinal Cord Injury) intervention from Brunel University of London by D. Cooper, A. Warland, E. Norris, C. Kilbride, S. Paddison and D. Bailey. An intervention was co-designed to counteract excessive sedentary behaviour for people with paraplegia. Co-design identified barriers (lack of knowledge, wheelchair inaccessibility & boredom) and facilitators (reminders and feedback, social support & goal setting). The intervention included a wearable activity tracker, education booklet, goal setting worksheet, motivational support sessions, peer support groups and activity tools.
• The Behaviour Change Wheel and Accessercise from Loughborough University by James Haley, David Maidment and Daniel Rhind. Accessercise is a fitness smart phone app for people with physical disabilities that helps adults with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) engage in physical activity by identifying ‘active ingredients’ from the perspective of behaviour change. Target behaviours of the app included goal setting and monitoring, building confidence, interest, positivity and motivation for physical activity and improving awareness of activity opportunities and resources.
• Leeds Community Research Secondment Scheme by the team at Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust. Opportunities for staff from a range of professions and cultural backgrounds to be integrated into the Trust’s Research Team for 1-2 days per week for 12 months. Impact of secondments included increased local research capacity, enhanced community involvement, new applications and awards, and wider staff research engagement and delivery.
• Development of an Outcome Measure for Case Managers byEmmaMcLean (Bridge Case management), Pam Enderby (University of Sheffield) & Julie Gardiner (Bridge Case management). The Therapy Outcome Measure (TOM) was developed to measure case management service outcomes. It has five domains (Impairment, Activity, Participation, Well-being and Engagement) and was found to be easy to use and reliable.
• Championing Community Rehabilitation by PaulMills (Cardiac Rehab, CVD Prevention & Pulmonary Rehab Awareness, Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust). Community rehabilitation awareness and prevention case studies included awareness and uptake of pulmonary rehabilitation, blood pressure testing and walking stick checks for falls prevention. Strategies to increase engagement included asking service users if they would like to learn more, explain importance and benefits visually, simply and linked to daily life, invitations to observation only sessions and educating staff and students about service user experience.
• Sharing Research on Social Media: How effective is social media for disseminating research evidence to health and social care practitioners? by SRoberts-Lewis (City St George’s University of London), Helen Baxter (University of Bristol, NIHR), Sophia Quirke-McFarlane (University of Surrey), Gill Mein (City St George’s University of London), Fiona Leggat (City St George’s University of London), Hannah Garner (St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust), Sarah White (City St George’s University of London), Martha Powell (NIHR), Lindsay Bearne (City St George’s University of London, NIHR). Social media was effective for dissemination of health and social care research evidence. Effectiveness was enhanced by greater social media activity, including ≥1 post per day, posting on multiple platforms, influential tagging and including media.
• Treatment fidelity of delivering a physiotherapy led, behavioural intervention in people with peripheral arterial disease (MOSAIC) from Kings’ College London by MandeepSekhon (St Georges University of London), Julie Bieles, Brittania Volkmer, Melissa Galea Holmes (University College London), Graham Fisher, B Modarai (Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust), Aliya Amirova, Sophia Quirke-McFarlane, Janet Peacock (Dartmouth College, USA), John Weinman, Catherine Sackley (University of Nottingham) & Lindsay Bearne (St Georges University of London). This study tested the fidelity of delivering a 12-week rehabilitation intervention: MOSAIC (MOtivating Structured walking Activity for Intermittent Claudication) that comprised 4 clinic or home-based one-to one audio-recorded physiotherapy sessions using motivational interviewing, behaviour change techniques, pedometer and exercise manual and diary. The intervention was faithfully delivered with overall fidelity of 79%; future training will further enhance physiotherapy delivery of psychological components, especially in relational proficiency in latter sessions.
• Barriers and facilitators to social participation for stroke survivors living in urban or rural communities by LouiseShelly (Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust), Tracey Dorey (Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust), Rebecca Palmer (University of Sheffield) & Dr Tom Crocker (University of Leeds, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust). A scoping review to map barriers and facilitators to social participation for stroke survivors living in urban vs rural settings yield 3 main themes: transport and access to the community, social networks and availability of appropriate services and spaces. Accessibility of public transport and social support or isolation issues applied to both rural and urban settings, whereas availability of services was considered more in urban settings and feeling safe in the community was reported more in rural settings.
• A co-developed holistic pathway for older adults with heart failure, frailty and multiple long-term conditions by SSze (University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, University of Leicester), S Krishnan (University of Leicester), K Guha (Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust), L Clayton (University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust), C Tarrant (University of Leicester), P Kalra (Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust), S Conroy (Barts NHS Trust) & I Squire (University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, University of Leicester). The 12-week pathway began with a holistic assessment followed by individualised care plans with components including an exercise programme, dietary counselling, heart failure and comorbidity optimisation, medication review and social and environmental support, overseen by MDT key workers. The pathway was found to be feasible and to improve quality of life, physical function and frailty.