Rehabilitation: mobility, exercise & sports; a critical position stand on current and future research perspectives.

BACKGROUND: Human movement, rehabilitation, and allied sciences have embraced their ambitions within the cycle of "RehabMove" congresses over the past 30 years. This combination of disciplines and collaborations in the Netherlands has tried to provide answers to questions in the fields of rehabilitation and adapted sports, while simultaneously generating new questions and challenges. These research questions help us to further deepen our understanding of (impaired) human movement and functioning, with and without supportive technologies, and stress the importance of continued multidisciplinary (inter)national collaboration. METHODS: This position stand provides answers that were conceived by the authors in a creative process underlining the preparation of the 6th RehabMove Congress. RESULTS: The take-home message of the RehabMove2018 Congress is a plea for continued multidisciplinary research in the fields of rehabilitation and adapted sports. This should be aimed at more individualized notions of human functioning, practice, and training, but also of performance, improved supportive technology, and appropriate "human and technology asset management" at both individual and organization levels and over the lifespan. CONCLUSIONS: With this, we anticipate to support the development of rehabilitation sciences and technology and to stimulate the use of rehabilitation notions in general health care. We also hope to help ensure a stronger embodiment of preventive and lifestyle medicine in rehabilitation practice. Indeed, general health care and rehabilitation practice require a healthy and active lifestyle management and research agenda in the context of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONContinued multidisciplinary (international) collaboration will stimulate the development of rehabilitation and human movement sciences.Notions from "human and technology asset management and ergonomics" are fundamental to rehabilitation practice and research.The rehabilitation concept will further merge into general health care and the quality there-off.

WHEEL-I: development of a wheelchair propulsion laboratory for rehabilitation.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the enabling factors and barriers experienced in the Wheelchair Expert Evaluation Laboratory - implementation (WHEEL-i) project, in which scientific knowledge, tools and associated systematic analyses of hand-rim wheelchair propulsion technique, user's wheelchair propulsion capacity, wheelchair-user interface, and wheelchair mechanics were implemented in 2 rehabilitation centres. DESIGN: Implementation project. PATIENTS: Spinal cord injury. METHODS: In this implementation project standardized tests were performed: wheelchair skills tests, 2 questionnaires, and a steady-state exercise test on a treadmill in which propulsion technique (forces and torques) and physical strain (oxygen uptake, heart rate and mechanical efficiency) were measured. RESULTS: Good interpretation of the test outcomes was the most important barrier. In order to discuss individual wheelchair performance results with patients and clinicians, reference data were developed, smallest detectable differences were calculated and software was developed to simultaneously show video recordings and force and torque signals. CONCLUSION: Based on pilot results, the greatest barrier to systematic monitoring of the individual wheelchair fitting and learning process in rehabilitation with, among others, instrumented measurement wheels, was interpretation of outcomes. For proper interpretation of individual outcomes, the availability of reference data, smallest detectable differences and visualization of outcomes is of utmost importance.