Rehabilitation workforce descriptors: a scoping review.

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Global Health Workforce Analysis
• Rehabilitation Science

Background:

• Accurate health workforce data is vital for effective service planning, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where it's often lacking.
• Inconsistent definitions and metrics for rehabilitation professionals hinder service planning and delivery.
• Standardized global metrics are needed to accurately quantify and compare rehabilitation workforce capacity internationally.

Purpose of the Study:

• To scope the range of descriptors and metrics used globally to describe the rehabilitation workforce.
• To compare rehabilitation workforce data across countries using similar descriptors in published reports.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive scoping review was conducted using the Arksey and O'Malley five-step framework.
• Literature searches focused on rehabilitation workforce descriptions and quantification methods used by different countries.

Main Results:

• Nineteen studies on rehabilitation workforce capacity were identified, primarily database reviews.
• Key descriptors included profession type, demographics (age, gender), geographic distribution (urban/rural), and sector (public/private).
• Common metrics comprised absolute counts and population-adjusted ratios.

Conclusions:

• This review offers an overview of international rehabilitation workforce descriptors and indicators.
• It represents a foundational step toward developing standardized metrics for global rehabilitation workforce capacity assessment.
• Standardized metrics will enable more accurate comparisons between different healthcare settings.