Addressing Changing Healthcare Needs: A Realist-Inspired Review of Innovative Rehabilitation Care Models

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Healthcare Innovation

Background:

• Canadian healthcare faces challenges from an aging population, rising chronic disease, and increasing costs.
• Innovative rehabilitation models are proposed to improve long-term health and wellbeing.
• Knowledge gaps exist regarding the practical implementation and operationalization of these models.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the successful implementation and sustainability of innovative care models in rehabilitation.
• To identify the necessary conditions for effective operationalization of these models.

Main Methods:

• A realist-inspired narrative review of peer-reviewed and grey literature.
• Searched and screened literature for relevant studies on innovative rehabilitation care models.
• Extracted data on contexts, mechanisms, and outcomes, using quantitative and qualitative analysis.

Main Results:

• Twenty-six documents (2014-2021) from Australia and Canada were analyzed.
• Successful implementation requires clear goals, short- and long-term funding, and legislative alignment.
• Multidisciplinary approaches supported by management, alongside educational and outreach strategies, are crucial.

Conclusions:

• Heterogeneity and reporting limitations in studies hindered the identification of context-mechanism-outcome configurations.
• Future implementation research should adhere to relevant reporting guidelines for robust findings.