September is National Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Month. A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to any part of the spinal cord or nerves at the end of the spinal canal, which often causes permanent changes in strength, sensation, movement, and other body functions below the site of the injury. SCIs may occur at any age and may be caused by car accidents, falling, sports injuries, and some diseases and conditions such as cancer, among other causes. SCI may be classified as complete or incomplete, and may cause paralysis (tetraplegia or paraplegia), loss of bowel or bladder control, exaggerated spams, changes in sexual function, and pulmonary issues, among other symptoms.
People with SCI have the right to full participation in their communities, just as their peers without SCI. To live and work independently, people with SCI may require support, such as accessible homes adapted to their needs, mobility devices to get around their homes and communities, and assistive technology (AT) to help take care of their needs, among other supports. NIDILRR supports the participation of people with SCI by funding research and development projects that examine prevalence and causes of SCI, aging and SCI, interventions, AT, and policies, among others. Below, you will find a few examples of evidence-based consumer products produced by the NIDILRR grantee community:
- The Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems (SCIMS) Centers provide assistance to establish innovative projects for the delivery, demonstration, and evaluation of comprehensive medical, vocational, and other rehabilitation services to meet the wide range of individuals with spinal cord injuries. These Centers collaborate with the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center (MSKTC) to create evidence-based factsheets, videos, infocomics, and more related to SCI and include independent living for people with SCI. They include:
- Videos on exercise and fitness.
- Factsheets on these topics are available in Spanish.
- The University of Pittsburgh SCIMS developed a web-based wheelchair transfer training program to improve transfer techniques and prevent shoulder injuries.
- The Longevity After Injury project has developed a series of calculators which people with SCI and their care teams can use to estimate their risk for unintentional injury, pressure injury, emergency department visit, and life expectancy. These are based on more than 40 years of data collected from people with SCI in the community.
In addition to these, NARIC’s Research In Focus series has highlighted research from the NIDILRR grantee community on SCI and independent living. Below are just a few examples:
Mark Odum, NARIC’s Director and long-time SCI survivor, shares his experiences with SCI and discusses NIDILRR-funded research and development (in English and Spanish) in NARIC’s Spotlight blog.
To learn more about these and other products from the NIDILRR community, contact NARIC’s information specialists.
