Developing All About Outcomes, Part 2: Rehabilitation outcomes: From research into practice, making new knowledge available to service providers.

This was the second of two studies whose purpose was to develop and test the computerized, self-directed software program All About Outcomes© that would enable health service providers in adolescent and adult rehabilitation treatment centres to select the most appropriate outcome measure to use with individual clients and/or program evaluations.

The availability of valid outcome measures and the development of techniques for individualized measures has increased over the past few years. Availability has not, however, ensured the transfer of the use of outcome measures in rehabilitation practice. There are two important factors that have limited the transfer of outcome measurement information into practice:

the lack of a decision-making protocol to guide rehabilitation practitioners in the selection and use of measures; and

the difficulty in assembling outcome information from many literature sources and assessing the methodological rigour of these outcome measures.

To overcome these factors, investigators at CanChild (formerly NCRU) have developed a measurement protocol for rehabilitation outcomes, as well as an accompanying educational software program. The software is a self-directed program that enables rehabilitation practitioners to select the most appropriate outcome measure to use with individual clients, services and/or programs. A modified version of the International Classification of Impairment, Disability and Handicap is used as a measurement framework to guide outcome measure selection. The educational software is linked to a computerized database of critically appraised information on outcome measures. Service providers, clients and managers can use the program to make decisions about what outcomes to measure and then search for reliable and valid methods of measuring selected outcomes. To date, the software program All About Outcomes©, has been developed and linked to a database of children's rehabilitation measures.

Research Team

Impact

  • this program will facilitate the transfer of research information about rehabilitation outcome measures into practice. 

To read more about this topic, refer to any/all of the following:

  • The All About Outcomes © software is available through SLACK Inc.
  • Read about Part 1 of this study here.
  • Law, M., King, G., Russell, D., MacKinnon, E., Hurley, P., & Murphy, C. (1999). Measuring outcomes in children's rehabilitation: A decision protocol. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 80 (6), 629-636.
  • Law, M., King, G., MacKinnon, E., & Russell, D. (1998). Quality performance: Designing clinical services around person-centred outcomes. In J. Gardner (Ed.), Leadership, quality and organizational dynamics: Leading through action in human services. New York: Brookes Publishers. 

Funding Agency

Chedoke Division of the Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation (formerly Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals) - $250,000 (1996-1998)