The Role of Enablement Theory in Rehabilitation Practice, Education, and Research 2557

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

2:45 PM - 3:45 PM

Location: ROOM: Private Dining Room #7 >>> DIRECTIONS Third Floor >>> From the Main Elevator Bank, proceed right and then right again after the stairs. PDR #7 is located at the end of the corridor on the left.

Corresponding Presenter(s)

Shanti M. Pinto, MD, MSCS (she/her/hers)

Physician-Scientist
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
Cambridge, MA, United States

Slides Slides

Presenter(s)

Sue Ann Sisto, PT, MA, PhD, FACRM

Professor and Chair of Rehabilitation Science
University at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY, United States
Jamie Gibson, BSc PG Cert FHEA MCSP

Highly Specialist Physiotherapist and NIHR Pre-doctoral fellow
Guy's St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust
London, England, United Kingdom
Carla Tierney-Hendricks, PhD, CCC-SLP (she/her/hers)

Research Fellow
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
Stoneham, MA, United States
Gareth D. Jones, PhD

Clinical Lead Physiotherapist
Guy's & St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
London, England, United Kingdom
John Whyte, MD, PhD

Scientist Emeritus
Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute
Elkins Park, PA, United States

This session will identify and highlight the importance of enablement models in rehabilitation. These models, which may be specific or broad, are used to hypothesize, identify, and/or illustrate the relationships that may exist within and between different levels of the ICF in distinct areas of functioning. Their utility in rehabilitation in the areas of clinical practice to facilitate clinical reasoning, research to illustrate the connections between directly addressed and more distal outcomes, and academia will be discussed. We will present the complementary nature of enablement theory and treatment theory as identified by the Rehabilitation Treatment Specification System (RTSS) and how their combined use is essential for maximizing outcomes and demonstrating the value of rehabilitation treatments. Those without previous familiarity with the RTSS are encouraged, though not required, to view the introductory at https://acrm.org/acrm-communities/rehabilitation-treatment-specification/rts-webinar/rts-webinar-fasoli/.

Learning Objectives:

Identify three proposed benefits of enhanced utilization of enablement models in rehabilitation research.
Describe the relationships between enablement models, goal setting in clinical rehabilitation practice, treatment planning and clinical reasoning.
Reflect on ways in which the use of enablement models can be augmented in order to better identify distal effects of rehabilitation treatments.