# “WHAT STANDARD SHOULD WE SET?”: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF REHABILITATION PROFESSIONALS’ PERSPECTIVES ON REHABILITATION NEEDS AFTER TRAUMATIC INJURIES

## TL;DR

This study explores how well current rehabilitation services meet the needs of traumatic injury patients and suggests ways to improve these services.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into the perspectives of rehabilitation professionals on unmet needs and proposes actionable improvements for post-injury rehabilitation.

## Key findings

- Community-based services lack support for cognitive, mental health, and financial needs of patients.
- Insufficient resources and weak coordination contribute to unmet rehabilitation needs.
- Early assessments and better collaboration between specialist and community services are suggested to improve outcomes.

## Abstract

To assess rehabilitation professionals’ perspectives on unmet rehabilitation needs in patients with traumatic injuries and how to bridge the gap between met and unmet needs.

Semi-structured focus-group interviews analysed using a reflexive thematic approach.

Eighteen strategically sampled health professionals (67% female, aged 27–56 years) from specialist and community-based rehabilitation services in Northern and South-Eastern Norway were interviewed regarding their perspectives on alignment of current rehabilitation services with patient needs, reasons for misalignment, and potential service improvements.

Care continuity and multidisciplinary collaboration was identified as essential for high-quality rehabilitation services. Unmet needs were noted in community-based services for cognitive and mental health support, as well as financial assistance for patients. Health professionals faced challenges prioritizing patient needs and expressed frustration with not being able to provide legally mandated services. Contributing factors included insufficient resources, lack of competency standards, and weak organizational structure. Suggested improvements were early rehabilitation assessments and stronger collaboration between specialist and community services.

Strengthening community-based rehabilitation for traumatic injuries requires establishing professional competency standards, stronger coordination across care levels, and greater integration of psychosocial support. Advancing these dimensions calls for critical reflection on clinical practice, service organization, and health policy.

The aim of this study was to explore healthcare professionals’ perspectives on the rehabilitation needs of individuals with physical traumatic injuries. Rehabilitation professionals were interviewed regarding what rehabilitation services they thought the patients needed and whether current services are in line with those needs. They also reflected on reasons why services may not be in line with rehabilitation needs and ways these services can be improved. The participants specifically highlighted a need to improve rehabilitation services to individuals with traumatic injuries after they are discharged from hospital. Limited resources, lack of training and competency standards, and poor service organization were among the listed reasons for unmet rehabilitation needs. Suggestions for improvement included early assessment of needs, facilitating and strengthening the collaboration between specialized and community-based services, in addition to increased focus on rehabilitation within programmes training future rehabilitation professionals.