Meeting the rehabilitation needs of rural major traumatic injury survivors

Survivors of major traumatic injury residing in rural locations experience challenges accessing rehabilitation services for persistent conditions due to their geographic location. Through four separate studies, this thesis explored a range of participant perspectives, including major traumatic injury survivors, rehabilitation practitioners, and compensation claims managers. The overarching aim was to understand whether the rehabilitation needs of rural major traumatic injury survivors are being met by the current services available. Overall, substantial unmet rehabilitation needs across major traumatic injury survivors in both metropolitan and rural regions were found. However, living in a rural location posed additional challenges to accessing rehabilitation services.