The aim of this interdisciplinary journal is to provide a forum for the fields of Biomedical and Rehabilitation Engineering, Neuropsychology, Clinical Neurology, Human Factors and Ergonomics, and vocational assessment and training to present critical ideas, theories, proof-of-concept for technology solutions, and data-based evaluative research to facilitate return to work or more effective functional development in children and adults.
FNRE accepts review papers, articles of original research, data-based and controlled case studies pertaining to Functional Neurology, Man-Machine Interaction, Rehabilitation Sciences, Brain-Behavior Relationships, and in Applied Cognitive Neuroscience that relates to translational research. Engineering proofs-of-concept applied to functional neurology as ergonomics are also welcome.
FNRE also welcomes commentary on either the review papers or the original research articles as the journal intends to be an archival source of discussion of new advances in rehabilitation.
Organization and management of rehabilitation services: rehabilitation in the framework of hospitalization and in the community; quality control in rehabilitation; vocational rehabilitation.
Scope of the specialty; educational needs; ethical and medico-legal aspects; role for alternative/complementary medicine practices in P&RM.
Functional assessment and outcome measurement at various levels: impairment; disability (activity); handicap (participation); quality-of-life (QOL); WHO-ICF system.
Management of commonly encountered disabling conditions: pain; sexual disability; spasticity; postural instability and recurrent falls; wounds; sleep disorders; disability related emotional disorders.
Other topics of general interest in P&RM: secondary and tertiary prevention in medical rehabilitation; nursing of disabled persons; sports medicine and sports for the disabled; rehabilitation of terror victims; electrodiagnosis; kinesiology; walking analysis; movement analysis; posturography; orthotic devices; advanced technologies in P&RM; augmentative devices; neuromuscular electrical stimulation; biofeedback; ergonomic considerations in the home and workplace of disabled persons.
The field of Rehabilitation does not presently exist as a cohesive discipline. Rehabilitation specialists define themselves as neurologists, practitioners of physical medicine and rehabilitation, vocational experts, engineers, psychologists, educators, social workers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and the like. The intrinsic cross-disciplinary nature of the rehabilitation process and the requirement for clinical-driven applied and basic science is not represented in any presently published journal, or, for that mater, in any professional organization. The International Academy of Functional Neurology and Rehabilitation and the F. R. Carrick Institute for Clinical Ergonomics, Rehabilitation, and Applied Neuroscience, the host organization and research institution for the journal, FNRE, is addressing the foregoing by training interdisciplinary rehabilitation professionals whose dissertations also require patent and product development, the establishment of cross-disciplinary research laboratories and projects, the transfer of technology into community-based services such as free medical equipment and services for those in need of getting to or back to work, regional clinical program integration systems, and international academic and research cooperative agreements. It is expected that the proposed journal will strongly reflect this structure and philosophy of science and practice.