The LeaRRN Techniques Component will modify LHS research techniques and resources so that they are focused on the needs of rehabilitation researchers and aligned with the priorities of our LHS Innovation Hub partners. Our first step is to identify existing gaps in LHS research knowledge across the broad rehabilitation research communities and match those needs to the priorities identified by our LHS Innovation Hub partners. This work will guide development of resources and adaptation of techniques to improve rehabilitation research in real-world settings and develop a critical mass of rehabilitation researchers focused on LHS research. The overarching purpose of the LeaRRN Techniques Development Component is to modify available LHS research techniques and resources to enhance achievement of LHS research competencies in the rehabilitation research community. This is urgently needed because rehabilitation researchers have had little exposure to many LHS research core competencies in their academic training. LHS research draws on theoretical and applied methods from a variety of fields. While rehabilitation research training may address some LHS research competencies, such as asking meaningful questions, applying appropriate methods, and ethics of research; rehabilitation research training does not address key competency areas required for engaging and conducting research within LHS. For example, most rehabilitation researchers have little to no exposure to key competency domains such as system science, improvement and implementation science and stakeholder engagement. Most rehabilitation researchers are unprepared to conduct research within a real-world health system. The Techniques Development component has the following specific aims: 1) assess gaps in LHS research competencies and resource needs of the broad rehabilitation research community; 2) develop and modify LHS research resources and techniques to address the needs of the rehabilitation research community and priorities of the LHS Innovation Hub stakeholders. While we know from experience and anecdote that LHS competencies are lacking across rehabilitation disciplines, we do not know the extent of these gaps or how they differ across disciplines. We will engage a multidisciplinary expert panel to inform development of a survey to assess key competencies within the seven LHS research domains. The survey, distributed across rehabilitation research disciplines, will assess knowledge gaps and priority areas to target with didactic training. The survey will be re-administered in Years 3 and 5 to assess LeaRRN?s impact and guide future activities. Needs identified in Aim 1 will be prioritized by LHS Innovation Hub partners, and the results will be used to guide development of Use Case Examples and other resources that will be linked to the resources and activities of the Didactic component for dissemination. The work of the Techniques Development component will bridge the gap between content knowledge and application by identifying and prioritizing the needs of the rehabilitation research community and developing techniques and resources to address these needs.
