A scoping review of rehabilitation programmes in higher educational institutions in the United Kingdom: the review protocol

Rehabilitation is an essential component in healthcare delivery. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has estimated that one in three people worldwide lives with a health condition that will need rehabilitation care. The United Kingdom has recognised the preventative, restorative, supportive, and palliative role of rehabilitation in healthcare delivery. This has led to the rethinking of the ways in which rehabilitation can be revamped in the country as rehabilitation seems to be one of the most underrated areas of healthcare in the country. As a result, a Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) has been established and the construction of a National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) is underway. Furthermore, some core educational institutions situated around the proposed location for the NRC (Midlands) have been charged to develop capacity in rehabilitation practice, research and development. This piece of research therefore seeks to review the existing rehabilitation programmes in the United Kingdom, access the existing course contents, identify the professional pathways and the gaps that exists in rehabilitation education, using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist, as Methodology. The findings of this review are expected to inform prospective or future rehabilitation programmes in higher education, especially at the University of Derby.