Spinal cord injured persons' conceptions of hospital care, rehabilitation, and a new life situation

Abstract

Background: The basic aim of spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation is to help patients return to a life worth living. It is therefore important that the staff at spinal units and rehabilitation centres understand how the patients experience their rehabilitation and their adjustment process to the new situation.

Aim: To describe SCI persons' experiences of their rehabilitation process.

Method: Nineteen SCI persons were interviewed. Data from the tape-recorded interviews were analysed according to a modified descriptive version of the phenomenographic analysis process.

Results: Six categories that describe the informants' conceptions of their rehabilitation process emerged: access to information, participation in planning rehabilitation, emotional support, feelings of vulnerability, adjustment to a new life situation, and emotional consequences of the injury.

Conclusion: Straightforward information, participation in the planning of the rehabilitation programme and emotional support were important factors influencing the rehabilitation process after the SCI. Professionals working with SCI rehabilitation should make use of patients' experiences in order to develop better rehabilitation programmes that focus on the individual needs of the patient. People are individuals and failure to take this into account can impact negatively on quality of life and the effectiveness of the rehabilitation.