Evaluation of a Community Reintegration Outpatient Program Service for Community-Dwelling Persons with Spinal Cord Injury

• Main Authors: Alana Zinman, Nicole Digout, Patricia Bain, Sylvia Haycock, Debbie Hébert, Sander L. Hitzig
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2014-01-01
• Series: Rehabilitation Research and Practice
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/989025

Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of a community reintegration outpatient (CROP) service for promoting well-being and community participation following spinal cord injury (SCI). Participants. Community-dwelling adults (N=14) with traumatic and nontraumatic SCI. Interventions. The CROP service is a 12-week (1 × week; 120 minutes) interprofessional closed therapeutic education service. Main Outcome Measure(s). Moorong Self-Efficacy Scale (MSES); Impact on Participation and Autonomy (IPA); Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS); Coping Inventory of Stressful Situations (CISS); World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF); semistructured qualitative interviews. Methods. Twenty-one participants were recruited from two subsequent CROP services, with only 14 persons completing all data assessments. Data were collected at baseline (week 0), at exit (week 12), and at a three-month follow-up. Semistructured interviews were conducted at exit. Results. Self-efficacy (MSES) and positive affect (PANAS) improved from baseline to exit (P<.05), but the changes were not maintained at follow-up. Qualitative analysis identified four major themes related to therapeutic benefits: (1) role of self; (2) knowledge acquisition; (3) skill application; and (4) group processes. Conclusions. Participation in a therapeutic education service has the potential to improve well-being in persons with SCI, but there is a need to identify strategies to maintain long-term gains.