Igniting the fire within: An innovative residential rehabilitation program for people with spinal cord injury

Shortened rehabilitation stays following spinal cord injury (SCI) limits rehabilitation potential and adversely impacts psychosocial health, functional goal capacity, and quality of life. Designed to fill this healthcare gap, Empower SCI (ESCI) was established to provide a second chance at rehabilitation using a short-term residential rehabilitation model shaped by participant-driven goals through physical and occupational therapy, adaptive recreation, rehabilitation counseling, and education sessions. A volunteer staff of multidisciplinary healthcare professionals and health professional students provides the supportive environment.

This qualitative inquiry aimed to reveal the outcomes and subsequent impact of the ESCI 2023 programs on the participants' physical, emotional, and psychosocial development.

Nine participants from the ESCI 2023 programs volunteered to participate in semi-structured interviews. The interviews were analyzed using a grounded theory approach, and themes and subthemes were established. Methodological rigor was established through multiple means.

Three themes, each with subthemes, emerged from the data: 1. Positive participant change, 2. Positive life changing perspective shift, and 3. Integral ESCI program ingredients.

The comprehensive nature of the impactful changes on participant's physical, emotional, and psychosocial development are well aligned with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health, a biopsychosocial model of disability. Additionally, the motivation for the participants' perspective shift is consistent with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. The evidence from this study supports the value of short-term residential rehabilitation programs that are driven by participant centered goals and occur in the SCI healthcare continuum when individuals can maximize their potential to live more meaningful lives.