Research Agenda for Physical Therapy from the American Physical Therapy Association.

Research agendas play an important role in directing scholarly inquiry in a field. The Research Agenda for Physical Therapy From the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) outlines research priorities that are vital to advancing physical therapist practice and the profession. The development of the research agenda included multiple iterative steps and feedback from stakeholders. A research agenda subgroup (n = 6) of the APTA Scientific Practice and Advisory Committee (SPAC), with APTA staff support, gathered information on existing research agendas, developed draft priority descriptions, and gathered feedback via surveys. The subgroup first conducted an environmental scan of the research agendas in the physical therapy and rehabilitation fields. To gather information about research priorities, APTA's technology and organizational performance department distributed a survey to 3 samples. APTA staff organized the feedback, and SPAC edited and synthesized a draft agenda. This draft was sent out in survey form to the original samples and to members of the APTA Academy of Research. Concurrently, a repeat environmental scan was conducted. A final draft of the research agenda was sent for final review to a smaller cohort (n = 95) that included content experts in each of the main categories of the agenda as identified by the APTA Academy of Research. The SPAC research agenda subgroup reviewed and incorporated the information into the final draft. The final research agenda includes priorities in topical areas (population health, mechanistic research, clinical research, education/professional development research, health services research, and workforce development) identified as key in the evolution of our profession.