The social and vocational outcome of spinal cord injury patients

Abstract BackgroundThe experience of loneliness can have drastic consequences for health and quality of life. Given that loneliness is highly prevalent in persons with physical disabilities and that loneliness more profoundly affects persons of low socioeconomic status, more evidence is required in order to understand the mechanisms determining loneliness in this population. The objective of this study is therefore to investigate the potential pathways through which socioeconomic status influences loneliness in persons with spinal cord injury.MethodsParallel and serial mediation analysis utilising structural equation models and bias corrected and accelerated confidence intervals were used in order to test the mediation effects of health status, functioning, participation, social support and self-efficacy on the association between socioeconomic status and loneliness in persons with spinal cord injury. A latent construct was created for socioeconomic status with the indicators education, household income, financial hardship, subjective social status and engagement in paid work. ResultsThis study found evidence to support the mediating role of psychosocial resources and of secondary health conditions in the association between socioeconomic status and loneliness. The study demonstrated robust associations between socioeconomic status and all mediators, whereby higher socioeconomic status was associated with better health, participation and psychosocial resources. Results also suggested that the serial mediation model explained the interplay between socioeconomic status, mediators on different levels, and loneliness. For example, emotional support and self-efficacy were both positively associated with fewer restrictions to participation (0.12 (CI: 0.05, 0.17); 0.29 (CI: 0.23, 0.35) respectively), and frequency of participation increased as a result of improved functional independence and fewer secondary health conditions (0.31 (CI: 0.23, 0.36); -0.18 (CI: -0.24, -0.10) respectively). ConclusionsThis study has emphasized the social gradient of loneliness in persons with spinal cord injury and has identified several potential mediating factors, such as health status and psychosocial resources, in the association between socioeconomic status and loneliness. This population-based evidence suggests potential targets of interventions on the pathway to loneliness, and has identified potential underlying mechanisms, through which socioeconomic status influences loneliness.

Download Full-text

Understanding the factors that influence social and community participation as perceived by people with non-traumatic spinal cord injury

British Journal of Occupational Therapy ◽

10.1177/0308022617713699 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 80 (10) ◽

pp. 577-586 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Linda Barclay ◽

Primrose Lentin ◽

Rachael McDonald ◽

Helen Bourke-Taylor

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Lived Experience ◽

Community Participation ◽

Institutional Environment ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Age Related ◽

The Social ◽

Cord Injury

Introduction The number of people with non-traumatic spinal cord injury is rising in developed countries such as Australia and Great Britain. People with non-traumatic spinal cord have different gender, injury and age-related profiles compared to those with traumatically acquired spinal cord injury; therefore, their lived experience is likely to be different. However, the specific issues and challenges that this group faces have not been well investigated. Method Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 17 adults with non-traumatic spinal cord injury. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings The factors that influenced the social and community participation of people with non-traumatic spinal cord injury were grouped into three broad areas: person factors, factors in the physical and institutional environment, and factors in the social or cultural environment. Conclusion The findings from this study inform the understanding of occupational therapists regarding the social and community participation of people with non-traumatic spinal cord injury and how this can be facilitated. Assisting people with non-traumatic spinal cord injury to participate in meaningful social and community-based activities is important to maximise their quality of life.

Download Full-text

Review of The social skills of spinal cord injury.

Rehabilitation Psychology ◽

10.1037/h0091075 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 24 (4) ◽

pp. 245-245

Author(s):

No authorship indicated

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Social Skills ◽

The Social ◽

Cord Injury

Download Full-text

The Nature of Social Support Available to People Living with Spinal Cord Injury

Australian Journal of Rehabilitation Counselling ◽

10.1017/s1323892200000673 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 30-38

Author(s):

Sian Reilly ◽

Gregory Murphy

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Self Report ◽

Post Discharge ◽

Perceived Availability ◽

The Social ◽

Cord Injury ◽

One Year ◽

Discharge From Hospital

This study examined the nature of the social support received by persons following spinal cord injury (SCI). Social support was assessed through use of an abridged version of the ISEL scale (Cohen et al., 1985), a self-report measure of perceived support. Seventy persons who had been living in the community at least one year post discharge from hospital provided information about four types of support received — instrumental, emotional, informational, and appraisal social support. The aim of this study was to identify whether there were any significant differences in the perceived availability of the four types of social support. Analyses revealed that overall there were significant (p < .05) perceived differences in the average availability of the four separate types of support, with Instrumental support being seen as the most available. Taken together, these findings support the usefulness of measuring separately the different types of social support perceived to be available to individuals, and thus hold important implications for the rehabilitation effort following SCI.

Download Full-text

Social skills, social networks and psychological well-being of patiens with spinal cord injury

Medical and Social Expert Evaluation and Rehabilitation ◽

10.18821/1560-9537-2016-19-3-137-142 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 19 (3) ◽

pp. 137-142

Author(s):

Irina D. Boulyubash ◽

O. S Bashta

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Social Network ◽

Social Skills ◽

Well Being ◽

Hospital Environment ◽

Psychological Well Being ◽

Training Support ◽

The Social ◽

Cord Injury

The paper presents information concerning the relations between the subjective evaluation of social skills, parameters of the social network and the factors determining psychological well-being ofpatients with spinal cord injury sequellae (SCIS). Thus, one of the focuses of the diagnostic and therapeutic work of a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist in the rehabilitation hospital environment becomes as well a subjective assessment by SCIS patients of their own social skills, as the development of these skills, contributing to the expansion of the social network, which is a resource for the provision ofpsychological wellbeing ofpatients. This testifies not only to the need for correction of the emotional state ofpatients, but also the necessity of specific psychotherapeutic interventions. Such interventions should be aimed at the increasing in the level of communication skills which are useful for the formation of new social relationships and the development of the social network of patients (group forms of training, support groups, chat forums, etc.).

Download Full-text

The Barriers Limiting the Social Integration of Wheelchair Users With Spinal Cord Injury in Turkish Society

Neurosurgery Quarterly ◽

10.1097/wnq.0000000000000116 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 24 (3) ◽

pp. 225-228 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mufit Akyuz ◽

Elif Yalcin ◽

Barin Selcuk ◽

İbrahim Degirmenci

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Social Integration ◽

Wheelchair Users ◽

The Social ◽

Cord Injury ◽

Turkish Society

Download Full-text

An Application of Azrin's Job Club Methodology to People Who Have Sustained a Spinal Cord Injury

Behaviour Change ◽

10.1017/s081348390000379x ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 91-97 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Amanda E. Young ◽

Gregory C. Murphy ◽

James A. Athanasou

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Employment Status ◽

Job Seekers ◽

Job Seeking ◽

The Social ◽

Cord Injury ◽

Validity Claims ◽

Spinal Cord Injured

This paper describes the employment achievements of people following spinal cord injury, and briefly reviews the literature on methods used by job seekers in obtaining employment. The scientific literature on job seeking supports the social validity claims of Azrin's behaviourally-basedjob clubmethodology (Azrin, Flores, & Kaplan, 1975) and thus suggests that the job club approach might be successfully offered to people with a spinal cord injury who wish to work. A group case study is presented wherein a modified job club format was utilised with ten spinal cord injured people. Encouraging results were obtained, both in terms of changed behaviour and in actual employment status.

Download Full-text

A Qualitative Investigation of the Social Factors of Chronic Pain after Spinal Cord Injury

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation ◽

10.1016/j.apmr.2019.08.090 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 100 (10) ◽

pp. e36-e37

Author(s):

Haley Scott ◽

Elizabeth Riedman ◽

Denise Tate ◽

Edward Rohn

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Chronic Pain ◽

Social Factors ◽

Qualitative Investigation ◽

The Social ◽

Cord Injury

Download Full-text

Social Representations of the Wheelchair for People with Spinal Cord Injury

Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem ◽

10.1590/s0104-11692010000400014 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 755-762 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Viviane de Souza Pinho Costa ◽

Marcia Regina Antonietto Costa Melo ◽

Mara Lúcia Garanhani ◽

Dirce Shizuko Fujisawa

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Social Representations ◽

Functional Dependence ◽

Human Life ◽

Social Representation ◽

The Social ◽

Cord Injury ◽

The Right

In seeking to understand the social representation of the use of the wheelchair through the analysis of interviews with ten people who have suffered spinal cord injury, the construction of five representations was elaborated. The phenomenon experienced regarding the wheelchair provided a route of meanings and symbologies: essential equipment, after the person perceive the inability to walk; a symbol of disability when the person experienced functional dependence; means of locomotion and transport after the rescue of their potential functional; becoming an integral part or all of their body and, finally, the concept of autonomy on four wheels by adjusting to their new ability to walk emerges. The wheelchair as an extension of the modified body for spinal cord injury, returns them the right of locomotion, presents them not only with autonomy for various acts of life, but also restores their dignity, so essential to human life.

Download Full-text