Home aids and personal assistance 10–45 years after spinal cord injury

Abstract

Objective: Assessment of home aids, adaptations and personal assistance received after traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). Setting: Clinic for Spinal Cord Injuries, Denmark. Uptake area, 2.5 million inhabitants. Study design and methods: Cross-sectional follow-up with retrospective data from medical files. Materials: Individuals with traumatic SCI before 1 January 1991, still in regular follow-up and with sufficient medical record. In all, 279 were included, and 236 answered the questionnaire (193 men and 43 women), with a response rate of 84.6%. Mean age at follow-up was 50.5 years, and mean follow-up time, 24.1 years. One hundred and twenty-six were paraplegic and 110, tetraplegic. Responders and non-responders were comparable. Results: Most common aids or adaptations reported were commode/shower chair on wheels or a seat (69%), grab bar by the toilet (41%), electrical bed (44%), special mattress (28%), lift/hoist (20%), computers (39%) and kitchen tools or cutlery with special handles (14%). In all, 7.6% of the participants reported no aids. Eighty-two percent answered 'Yes' to the question 'Have the aids, you currently or previously needed, been available to you?' The majority reported that their source of information about aid had been various journals and magazines. Twenty-one percent had personal helpers, with 60 h per week in median (range 2-168). Thirty-three percent received domestic help with 2.5 h per week in median (range 0.5-37). Eight percent had a home nurse. A total of 98.7% were living in their own homes. Conclusions: This is the first study of a representative SCI population giving information on home aids. Individuals with SCI in Denmark seem to be sufficiently supplied with aids and personal assistance.

How much equipment is prescribed for people with spinal cord injury in Australia, do they use it and are they satisfied 1 year later?

“…The information is important because it provides a benchmark for comparisons with other countries 8 and helps pave the way for discussions about policies on appropriate equipment prescription. The results also provide an indication of the typical cost of equipment.…”

“…4 This policy gives therapists prescribing equipment considerable autonomy perhaps similar to that noted in countries such as Sweden 11 and Denmark who also report high rates of satisfaction and equipment usage. 8 It also enables and encourages patients to trial different types of equipment empowering them and possibly contributing to satisfaction. 2 Needless to say trialling different types of equipment is a time consuming process and cannot be easily done on an outpatient basis.…”

Caregiving services in spinal cord injury: a systematic review of the literature

“…Caregivers also perform a range of duties and roles including support for ADLs, nursing care, prevention of secondary health conditions, housekeeping, emotional care and practical care (errands). 9,16,17,22 The range of duties and roles identified in these studies may help explain the range in amount of informal care. Although some studies may have had clear operational definitions of what constituted care, these varied widely across studies.…”

“…Table 2 lists descriptive studies that were included. Of these studies, one reported the results of research with caregivers themselves, 9 nine reported research with individuals with SCI 8,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] and one reported results of research with both caregivers and individuals with SCI. 24 The study that reported research with caregivers only was specific to informal caregiving.…”

"It's more than just a wheelchair that gets wet …": Usability of mobile shower commodes for adults with spinal cord injury

“…This stage involves establishing the overall research objectives, including the primary purpose of the questionnaire, its target population and proposed format, and the theoretical underpinnings of the research (Crocker & Algina, 1986;Portney & Watkins, 2009 Biering-Sørensen et al, 2009;Friesen, Theodoros, et al, 2015c). Rehabilitation services for…”