Self-care competence among persons with spinal cord injury

The authors of this article report the results of a secondary data analysis which examined the self-care competence of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) and the retention of cognitive and functional skills following discharge from acute rehabilitation as well as additional learning of self-care following discharge. The sample consisted of 48 persons with SCI from two Veterans Affairs Medical Centers and a state university affiliated rehabilitation program. The data collection tool was the Self-Care Assessment Tool (SCAT) which measures cognitive and functional skills in eight self-care areas: bathing/grooming, nutritional management, taking medications, mobility/transfer/safety, skin management, bladder management, bowel management, and dressing. The overall self-care competence of the participants was high (mean = 78.25) as was their competence in the eight self-care areas. In general, participants retained both the cognitive information and functional skills learned in the acute rehabilitation setting and also continued to learn after discharge in both cognitive information and functional skills.