Background

In 2021, an estimated 2.6 billion individuals were living with a health condition that would benefit from rehabilitation, contributing to 340 million years of healthy life lost due to disability (YLD). This number has increased by 79.4% from 1990 to 2021[1]. At least 1 billion people need assistive products (AP) and this is expected to increase to 2 billion by 2050[2]. Many people, however, have limited access to the required rehabilitation services, in particular in low- and middle-income countries[3].

Using data and evidence to inform decision-making processes is critical to ensure that policies, programs, and practices are (cost-)effective. Sustained and institutionalized system changes for rehabilitation are based on targeted, evidence-informed policy measures that are owned and, most importantly, funded by local health authorities.

[1] Cieza A, Causey K, Kamenov K, et al. Global estimates of the need for rehabilitation based on the Global Burden of Disease study 2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet. 2021: 396(10267):2006-17.

[2] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/assistive-technology

[3] Kamenov K, Mills JA, Chatterji S, et al. Needs and unmet needs for rehabilitation services: a scoping review. Disabil Rehabil. 2019;41(10):1227-37.

Mission 

Building a local evidence ecosystem for rehabilitation policy-making is essential for Evidence Informed Policy-making (EIPM) and key for political prioritization of rehabilitation. Key to this evidence ecosystem is a researcher-decision-maker interactions platform with its own regulation and governance that effectively operates to answer local policy questions for rehabilitation with local evidence. This ecosystem:

. develops and supports policy/action cycles for rehabilitation through the definition of policy questions, solutions and actions based on the best available evidence

. makes use, steers and supports the generation of local evidence through the strengthening of the Rehabilitation Management Information System and implementation and Health Policy and Systems research activities

. remains up-to-date with regional and global evidence synthesis products.

. employs its specialists to synthesize the evidence into policy briefs to inform local decision-making.

Objectives and Activities

The Rehabilitation Policy Academy is a dedicated non-profit organization for country policy development, academic research, and training in the field of rehabilitation. We are guided by the domains and processes for institutionalizing evidence informed health policy-making in countries. Furthermore, we are building on the foundation provided by the evidence map for what works in terms of intervention mechanisms to support evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM). The evidence tends to focus on three main intervention mechanisms—access to evidence, researcher-decision-maker interactions, and capacity building.

The objectives and corresponding activities of the Rehabilitation Policy Academy are listed below. Objectives 1-4 are achieved at country level, while the activities for Objectives 5 and 6 are developed at RPA level:

Objective 1. To build the capacity of decision-makers for rehabilitation policy-making

-Activities:

1/ develop training courses and workshops on rehabilitation policy- and decision- making based on available country health information and evidence,

2/ produce and make available relevant resources and tools such as an "EIPM for Rehabilitation Roadmap"

Objective 2. To facilitate the establishment or strengthening of country researcher-decision-maker interactions platforms for rehabilitation

-Activities:

1/ conduct political analysis of stakeholders and existing country Knowledge Translation Platforms (if any),

2/ integrate rehabilitation into existing country Knowledge Translation Platforms, if available, and/or support development and institutionalization,

3/ provide technical support for conducting policy/action cycles for rehabilitation, including the development of a research agenda

Objective 3. To built country research capacities and facilitate the development of research activities for rehabilitation decision making

-Activities:

1/ training courses for rehabilitation researchers to provide timely and relevant information for policy-making,

2/ facilitate international academic collaboration through the support with grant writing for rehabilitation research that has been demanded by local health authorities and the establishment of an international academic support mechanism, i.e. a RPA community of practice

Objective 4. To support the strengthening of country health information systems for rehabilitation

-Activities:

1/ develop training courses and workshops for the strategic development of country health information systems for rehabilitation

Objective 5. To create a global platform for exchange and learning from evidence informed rehabilitation policy-making

-Activities:

1/ develop and publish a Health (System) Reform Tracker for rehabilitation: an overview of the content and dynamics of health reforms in countries collected by a Health System Policy Monitor (HSPM) network of experts, tagging reforms that have been triggered/informed by evidence, and mapped with health system performance,

2/ publish and maintain a database of high-impact publications of international concern, including in-house scientific publications,

3/ conduct webinars/conferences for learning and exchange of good practices targeting rehabilitation decision makers, academics, and rehabilitation stakeholders

Objective 6. To produce a series of evidence products for rehabilitation with global impact

-Activities:

1/develop policy briefs for rehabilitation decision making based on a consensus-driven approach for defining policy questions of global concern