(Didactic Interactions) Didactic Interactions are an integral core component of the proposed National Pediatric Rehabilitation Resource Center (PedRehab Ctr). We plan to offer a wide mix of didactic activities to assist others in the following areas: i) developing, rigorously testing, and appropriately measuring outcomes of new pediatric rehabilitation treatments via a variety of research designs; ii) analyzing multivariate and longitudinal data from pediatric clinical trials that face unique challenges, because children are developing at varying rates over the course of rehabilitation treatment and throughout the follow-up period; iii) developing and applying tools to measure Fidelity of Treatment Implementation; and iv) designing and conducting research in the relatively new field of Implementation Science, so that efficacious treatments can be applied in a timely and effective way in real world settings to realize maximum benefits. These Didactic Interactions offerings will be designed to be practically useful for scientists and clinicians interested in furthering clinical pediatric rehabilitation research. We plan to be responsive to the informational needs identified by the research community, clinicians, and parent and advocacy groups. A high priority will be engaging investigators from historically underrepresented groups in science.
The specific aims for Didactic Interactions are: 1) to conduct multiple informative and inviting presentations ? including short courses, symposia, demonstration workshops, roundtable discussions, and Webinars - at a wide range of national and international professional meetings and venues each year. Over 5 years, we propose delivering a minimum of 30 events, targeted to investigators in pediatric neurology, developmental pediatrics, physical medicine and rehabilitation (physiatry), neonatology, general pediatrics, occupational therapy, physical therapy, child development, neuroscience, and biostatistics, as well as to parent/advocacy groups interested in rehabilitation research; 2) to link our major didactic presentations (specific aim 1 above) with timely follow-up activities appropriate to the content of the presentation, the target audience, and the potential for supporting longer-term collaborations and helping to developing promising pilot study applications; 3) to use our new PedRehab Ctr Website to archive the Didactic Interactions offerings along with supportive reference materials; and 4) to pursue opportunities to coordinate with others, including the other P2C Medical Rehabilitation Resource Centers, our CTSAs, national organizations, NIH special workshops, and StrokeNet, so that we actively share relevant materials and work synergistically to minimize duplication of effort and to maximize dissemination of high-quality, relevant didactic materials.
