Rehabilitation & Engineering Center for Optimizing Veteran Engagement & Reintegration (RECOVER): Transdisciplinary Collaborations to Drive Change in Participation in Veterans

Abstract

The Rehabilitation & Engineering Center for Optimizing Veteran Engagement & Reintegration (RECOVER) is a newly funded VA Rehabilitation Research & Development Center where our mission is to maximize Veteran participation in important lifelong roles and activities through development, evaluation, and clinical translation of practical rehabilitation interventions and technologies. This work is being conducted in Veterans with amputation or spinal cord injuries and disorders. Our team consists of transdisciplinary rehabilitation researchers and Minneapolis VA clinicians, allowing for the unique conceptualization of participation and clinically relevant approaches to our projects. Our team conducts research into the barriers and facilitators of participation in our studied populations. Our studies are now being designed for longitudinal follow up of participation outcomes. The team uses our research to inform the design of new rehabilitation interventions. Identifying barriers/promoters of participation, paired with a user-centered approach, guides medical device innovation where we seek stakeholder input (e.g., end user, clinicians, and industry partners) at all phases of device development. Using this approach, we have licensed 6 technologies to industry partners supporting Veteran needs for innovation in skin care, novel prosthesis components, and prosthesis management. Within RECOVER, we now have a Veteran & Caregiver Engagement Panel for additional stakeholder feedback throughout the research process. Finally, RECOVER supports future VA rehabilitation researchers through mentorship and training. Taken together, the work of RECOVER is intended to advance our understanding and interventions to support participation in desired activities and roles for Veterans with disabilities and contribute to the field of rehabilitation research.