Recommendation 9.2 The federal programs that support rehabilitation-related research and training should

• tailor training grants to support professional education programs that integrate rehabilitation science and engineering into the knowledge base of primary care.
• encourage scientists from related fields to join in rehabilitation efforts to mentor rehabilitation scientists and engineering scientists in their formative years.
• develop new and improved mechanisms for enhancing multiperspective transdisciplinary rehabilitation-related research representing the separate perspectives of the health professional and engineering disciplines.
• coordinate with and develop joint efforts with programs that support training and research in the separate health professional, engineering, and preclinical science disciplines, in order to facilitate the integration and translation of rehabilitation science and engineering knowledge into the full spectrum of issues related to the health and well-being of people with disabilities, from individual clinical care to health delivery systems to social policy reform.

Recommendation 9.3 Researchers conducting rehabilitation-related research in the various existing disciplines should consider how their work fits into a broader concept of rehabilitation science and engineering described in this report.

Recommendation 9.4 Professional associations of rehabilitation-related disciplines (e.g., medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, prosthetics, orthotics, neuropsychology, and rehabilitation psychology) should collaborate in exploring opportunities to improve and enhance transdisciplinary activities among rehabilitation professionals.