Developing a consensus on the core educational content to be acquired by people with spinal cord injuries during rehabilitation: findings from a Delphi study followed by a Consensus Conference

Study design: Three-round Delphi study followed by a Consensus Conference with selected stakeholders. Objectives: To identify a set of core educational content that people with spinal cord injury (SCI) need to acquire during rehabilitation. Setting: The Delphi study was performed electronically. The Consensus Conference was held at the Città della Salute e della Scienza University Hospital of Turin, Italy. Methods: A panel of 20 experts (healthcare professionals and SCI survivors) participated in a three-round Delphi study. In round 1, arguments for core educational content were solicited and reduced into items. In rounds 2 and 3, a five-point Likert scale was used to find consensus on and validate core educational content items (threshold for consensus and agreement: 60% and 80%, respectively). A Consensus Conference involving 32 stakeholders was held to discuss, modify (if appropriate) and approve the list of validated items. Results: The 171 arguments proposed in round 1 were reduced into 74 items; 67 were validated in round 3. The Consensus Conference approved a final list of 72 core educational content items, covering 16 categories, which were made into a checklist. Conclusions: Consensus was achieved for a set of core educational content for people with SCI. The resultant checklist could serve as an assessment tool for both healthcare professionals and SCI survivors. It can also be used to support SCI survivors’ education, streamline resource use and bridge the gap between information provided during rehabilitation and information SCI survivors need to function in the community.