John Walsh Centre for Rehabilitation Research
About us
We focus on research and education in rehabilitation and injury-related disability. We aim to:
- generate new knowledge to improve health outcomes of people with injury related disability
- promote links with the research community, partner organisations, patient advocacy groups and non-governmental organisations to ensure effective transfer of research outcomes into health policy
- improve clinical care for people with injury-related disability and translate research outcomes into clinical practice.
Formerly the Rehabilitation Studies Unit (established in 1992), we were launched in October 2014 by Mr John Walsh AM, with the support of relevant state government ministers and departments.
We acknowledge the ongoing support from the NSW State Insurance Regulatory Authority and the NSW icare lifetime care.
Our research
We have many research projects in progress, including NHMRC funded projects. Our projects fall under four major themes:
- musculoskeletal injury
- psychological health after injury
- spinal cord injury
- brain injury.
We also have major work occurring across several research projects, including those related to evidence-based practice and older people.
Resources for practitioners
We have a physiotherapy exercises website which contains over 1000 physiotherapy exercises appropriate for people with injuries and disabilities.
This website is primarily for the use of physiotherapists responsible for prescribing exercises. It may also be of interest to other health professionals including occupational therapists as well as people with injuries and disabilities.
We host the Psychological Database for Brain Impairment Treatment Efficacy (PsycBITE). It catalogues studies of cognitive, behavioural and other treatments for psychological problems and issues occurring as a consequence of acquired brain impairment (ABI). These studies are rated for their methodological quality, evaluating various aspects of scientific rigour.
The website gives clinicians, students and researchers free access to the PsycBITE database, thus enabling you to search for articles which might be relevant for your clinical practice or your research in a time-efficient way.
You can find the PsycBITE website here.
The Care and Needs Scale (CANS; Tate, 2004) is an 8-level categorical scale that has two sections: a Needs Checklist and Support Levels. It is designed to measure the level of support needs of a person with traumatic brain injury and is intended to be administered by health professionals with experience working in a rehabilitation setting with people with brain injury.
The Sydney Psychosocial Reintegration Scale (SPRS) is a 12-item rating scale that measures participation in the community; specifically, the extent to which a person’s lifestyle may have changed as a result of acquired brain impairment.
The SPRS was designed to be administered by health professionals working in a rehabilitation setting (clinician version), but it can also be completed by an informant who knows the person well (informant version). Additionally, it can be completed as a self-rating scale (self version), although this is not advised if the person experiences significant cognitive impairments (particularly those involving memory, insight and judgement) which may affect the validity of responses.
Contact us
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Kolling Institute of Medical Research, Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards NSW 2065