Table 2 General and operational definitions of the SWOT analysis categories for this study

Strengths

Internal properties of the system or organization under study that represent a competitive advantage for that system or its own development

• Aspects that the rehabilitation workforce literature identifies as successful and might be maximized in those specific contexts

• Aspects of the rehabilitation workforce literature that inspire, or identify elements in need for, specific improvement action in identified contexts

Weaknesses

Limitation internal to the system or organization under study that may hamper its progress

• Barriers to the progress of the study, monitoring and development of the rehabilitation workforce

• Structural barriers impeding the access of people with disabilities to the rehabilitation health workers they need

• Aspects that the rehabilitation literature is unable to identify in sufficient detail to trigger any specific improvement action

Opportunities

Any external environmental factor that may act as a facilitator to the progress of the system or organization under study

• Interventions/innovations that the rehabilitation workforce literature reports as successfully applied into one context (e.g. geography) and that might be potentially transferred to other contexts as well—particularly those with higher need

• Any relevant contextual factor that may act as facilitator to the advancement of the rehabilitation workforce

Threats

Any external environmental factor that may act as a barrier to the system or organization under study

• Factors external to the advances assisted in the rehabilitation workforce and its literature that may act as a barrier to the progress in the study, monitoring and development of the rehabilitation workforce