ESPRM is very happy and proud to announce the Cochrane Rehabilitation recognition and official launch on December 16th 2016

230 collaborators from 49 countries join to announce the official launch of Cochrane Rehabilitation

Cochrane Rehabilitation is born within the Evidence Based Committee of ESPRM, that started the creation of a Cochrane Rehabilitation Field in 2014. Cochrane Rehabilitation is a global network of individuals, involved in the production, dissemination, and implementation of evidence-informed clinical practice in rehabilitation.
The new Cochrane Field will promote and advocate for using the best evidence within the rehabilitation world, including physical therapy, speech and occupational therapy, prosthetics and orthotics, psychology, adapted physical activity and sports, and pharmacological treatments, to inform clinical decision-making.
With more than 230 collaborators from 49 countries expressing their willingness to join, Cochrane Rehabilitation members can contribute individually or work in teams with other colleagues to review and strengthen methodology relevant to evidence-informed clinical practice within the field of rehabilitation, combining the best available evidence as gathered by high quality Cochrane systematic reviews, with their own clinical expertise and the values of patients.
The Cochrane Rehabilitation headquarters will be located at the "E. Spalenza” Don Gnocchi Centre, Largo Paolo VI, Rovato (Brescia), Italy, in collaboration with the University of Brescia and Don Gnocchi Foundation. Cochrane Rehabilitation will promote evidence-based decision making in rehabilitation by supporting and training new authors of Cochrane Reviews, as well as working with clinicians, professional associations, policy-makers, patients, and the media to encourage the dissemination and use of evidence in rehabilitation.
Cochrane Rehabilitation will be led by Director Stefano Negrini, MD (Italy) and co-ordinated by Carlotte Kiekens, MD (Belgium). They will be directly responsible for the knowledge translation and networking strategy and assisted by an executive committee, composed of William Levack, PT (New Zealand), Frane Grubisic, MD (Croatia), Elena Ilieva, MD (Bulgaria), Francesca Gimigliano, MD (Italy), Thorsten Meyer, Psy (Germany), Julia Patrick Engkasan, MD (Malaysia) and Antti Malmivaara, MD (Finland). Stefano Negrini is the chair of the ESPRM EBM committee and Carlotte Kiekens is the ESPRM secretary general and liaison officer between ESPRM and Cochrane Rehabilitation. Frane Grubisic and Elena Ilieva are both ESPRM delegates.
An advisory Board will also work alongside the operational team, and include key individuals recognized as opinion leaders in rehabilitation. The Director of Cochrane Rehabilitation, Stefano Negrini, says this is a hugely exciting opportunity: “The launch of Cochrane Rehabilitation is very important. Producing and increasing the dissemination of the best available information on health care is critical for clinicians and patients everywhere in the world, especially in rehabilitation. Cochrane Rehabilitation will drive, on one side, evidence and methods developed by Cochrane to the world of rehabilitation and, on the other, convey priorities, needs and specificities of rehabilitation to Cochrane.”

Cochrane Rehabilitation is part of Cochrane, a global independent network of researchers, professionals, patients, carers and people interested in health. Cochrane works with collaborators from more than 130 countries to produce credible, accessible health information that is free from commercial sponsorship and other conflicts of interest. Cochrane’s work is recognized as representing an international gold standard for high quality, trusted information.

ESPRM foresees that Cochrane Rehabilitation will help clarify and strengthen the PRM knowledge base, to enhance the image and credibility of PRM, to compare existing global PRM knowledge with other specialties (may happen indirectly) and to respond to questions and concerns that may arise as the practice of PRM evolves by reviewing existing literature. ESPRM will contribute to Cochrane Rehabilitation not only participating in reviews of PRM interest and suggesting areas of knowledge gaps which need a "Cochrane review” but also facilitating Cochrane Rehabilitation dissemination and educational activities. The first training events will take place in Vilnius, Lithuania, at the ESPRM 2018 congress, May 1-6 2018
( www.esprm2018.com ).

ESPRM is available, capable, and eager to collaborate!

More information on Cochrane Rehabilitation can be found on
www.rehabilitation.cochrane.org , Cochrane.rehabilitation@gmail.com , @Cochranerehab .