Pediatric Rehabilitation: From Physical Therapy to Functional Restoration

Dear Colleagues,

Pediatric rehabilitation is rapidly evolving through advances in neuroscience, clinical practice, technology, and family-centered care. Current rehabilitation aims not only to reduce impairments but also to translate therapeutic gains into meaningful improvements in activity, participation, independence, and quality of life. This Special Issue highlights innovative, evidence-based approaches supporting more personalized, effective, and function-oriented pediatric rehabilitation.

Background

Pediatric rehabilitation has shifted from predominantly impairment-focused interventions toward active, goal-directed, task-specific, and context-oriented approaches. Advances in neuroplasticity, motor learning, biomechanics, exercise science, and early intervention, together with child- and family-centered models and the ICF framework, have reinforced the importance of functional abilities, participation, and environmental factors.

Emerging technologies, including robotics, virtual and augmented reality, wearable sensors, telerehabilitation, digital health, artificial intelligence, and advanced movement analysis, are expanding opportunities for assessment, intervention, monitoring, and personalized clinical decision making.

Aim and Scope

The Special Issue “Pediatric Rehabilitation: From Physical Therapy to Functional Restoration” aims to provide an international and multidisciplinary platform for research on current and emerging approaches in pediatric rehabilitation.

We welcome studies involving infants, children, and adolescents with conditions affecting functional performance, particularly research addressing motor function, mobility, independence, activity, participation, and quality of life. Priority will be given to studies that bridge scientific evidence and clinical practice, promote individualized and goal-directed rehabilitation, incorporate family-centered and interdisciplinary approaches, and evaluate meaningful functional outcomes.

Cutting-Edge Research

• Neuroplasticity, motor learning, and early rehabilitation;
• Intensive, task-specific, and goal-directed interventions;
• Strength training, physical activity, exercise, and fitness;
• Robotics, virtual/augmented reality, and immersive rehabilitation;
• Wearable sensors, movement analysis, and remote monitoring;
• Telerehabilitation, digital therapeutics, and artificial intelligence;
• Personalized and precision rehabilitation;
• Assistive technologies and innovative mobility solutions;
• Participation-focused and family-centered interventions;
• Functional assessment, outcome prediction, and rehabilitation trajectories;
• Translation of evidence-based interventions into real-world clinical practice.

Studies integrating technological innovation with clinically meaningful outcomes and examining whether therapeutic gains translate into spontaneous activity and participation in children’s everyday environments are particularly encouraged.

[*] What kind of papers we are soliciting:

We invite high-quality contributions from researchers and clinicians working across pediatric rehabilitation, physical therapy, rehabilitation medicine, developmental neuroscience, biomedical engineering, occupational therapy, exercise science, and related disciplines.

We particularly welcome the following:

• Original research articles;
• Randomized and controlled clinical trials;
• Prospective and longitudinal cohort studies;
• Systematic reviews and meta-analyses;
• Scoping reviews addressing emerging areas of pediatric rehabilitation;
• Methodological studies;
• Development and validation studies of assessment tools and outcome measures;
• Studies evaluating innovative rehabilitation technologies;
• Translational and implementation research;
• High-quality clinical studies exploring novel therapeutic approaches.

Studies involving infants, children, and adolescents across the pediatric age range are encouraged, as are investigations addressing both established interventions and innovative models capable of advancing evidence-based clinical practice.

The overarching objective is to bring together research that contributes to the transition from treating impairments to restoring function, thereby promoting autonomy, participation, health, and meaningful engagement in daily life for children and their families.

Dr. Francisco Javier Fernández-Rego
Dr. Inmaculada Calvo Muñoz
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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