Development of a rehabilitation goal menu for inpatients with neurological disorders: application in a Saudi Arabian context.

OBJECTIVE

To develop a rehabilitation goal menu based on understanding the specific goals that are important to neurological inpatients and that fall within commonly identified rehabilitation domains.

DESIGN

Qualitative methods (semi-structured interview, focus groups) to develop a goal menu followed by cross-sectional study to measure participants' goal rankings.

SETTING

Rehabilitation hospital in Saudi Arabia.

SUBJECTS: A total of 130 participants with neurological injury.

MAIN MEASURES: Participant rankings of rehabilitation goals and self-reported level of difficulty in areas such as mobility, self-care, accessibility, productivity, and leisure.

RESULTS

A 10-item goal menu was developed based on initial focus groups, semi-structured interviews, and literature review. The overall highest ranked rehabilitation goal was Functional Mobility/Locomotion, followed by Self-Care and Religious/Life Philosophy. Self-reported level of difficulty with mobility was strongly associated with the ranking of Functional Mobility/Locomotion as a rehabilitation goal. However, there was little correspondence between reported difficulty and priority ranking of self-care. Subsequent factor analysis of detailed goal items suggest that the goal menu could be reduced to seven items.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provided an understanding of which rehabilitation goals are important to Saudi clients with neurological disorders that could be used to facilitate their contribution to the goal-setting process.