We recognise that changing behaviour is an integral part of rehabilitation as rehabilitation typically requires us to undertake activities frequently and regularly, often for weeks and months.

Rehabilitation technologies provide new opportunities for facilitating and supporting this behaviour change. For instance, some technologies are thought to make rehabilitation fun by using engaging games which may encourage people to participate more regularly in exercises, whilst others provide regular feedback so users can see their progress. However, we don’t know which strategies to change behaviour are used in rehabilitation technologies. Our scoping review sought to identify and explore behaviour change approaches within digital health technology-based interventions in physical rehabilitation following stroke. The review found that techniques such as providing feedback and reward were most commonly used in rehabilitation technology based interventions. These and other techniques could then be integrated into the RiTe model.

Read our published findings here:

Gooch HJ, Jarvis KA, Stockley RC Behavior Change Approaches in Digital Technology–Based Physical Rehabilitation Interventions Following Stroke: Scoping Review  J Med Internet Res 2024;26:e48725 doi: 10.2196/48725 PMID: 38656777 PMCID: 11079774

We wanted to learn from the theories, models and frameworks that others have used to implement technologies in both rehabilitation and wider healthcare. We did this by searching for and reviewing evidence reporting in the research literature.

We undertook two different kinds of reviews to capture (i) the implementation tools used to guide technology adoption in neurological rehabilitation and (ii) the relevant theories and models used in any form of technologies adoption across healthcare.

See our published findings here:

Jarvis K, Thetford C, Turck E, Ogley K, Stockley RC. Understanding the Barriers and Facilitators of Digital Health Technology (DHT) Implementation in Neurological Rehabilitation: An Integrative Systematic Review. Health Services Insights. 2024;17. doi:10.1177/11786329241229917

We used the models we found to support and inform the areas covered in the RiTe model.

There are typically a range of people (stakeholders) that are key supporting and using technologies to improve rehabilitation. All of them can influence if and how technologies get to be used. To date, no studies have considered all these stakeholder’s views, but we think this is vital if we want to understand how we can ensure technology becomes embedded in usual practice.

We identified the key stakeholders – these include people who use technologies as part of their rehabilitation (patients and those who care for them) clinicians, people who design technologies, information technology team members, people working in organisational governance, service mangers and organisation leaders – and interviewed them about their experiences. We did this in the UK’s National Health Service – conducting 48 interviews and including 10 NHS sites.

We analysed all their rich and detailed experiences which told us about the real-life challenges and good practices in technology implementation and use.