The Spinal Cord Injury Self-Management Program: A Pilot

People with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) experience a higher rate of secondary health conditions (SHCs) which affect their health and well-being. Self-management (SM) is a proven intervention approach, but formal programs may need to be tailored for the SCI population to reflect their needs and values. We sought to examine the feasibility and acceptability of the Spinal Cord Injury Self-Management (SCISM) Program and estimate its effect. A total of 32 individuals with SCI participated in the program. The primary outcomes were feasibility, acceptability, SHCs, and goal attainment. Participants were assessed at baseline, postintervention, and 3-month follow-up. Findings indicated that the SCISM Program was feasible and acceptable for use with moderate positive effects on SHCs and large positive effects in goal attainment. People with chronic SCI want to continue improving SM skills. The SCISM Program is feasible, acceptable, and should be examined further to reduce SHCs following SCI. The Spinal Cord Injury Self-Management (SCISM) Program: A Pilot StudyPeople with spinal cord injuries (SCIs) have more health and medical problems than the general population due to their injury. This can result in poor health and premature death. Learning how to manage your health with SCI, called self-management, is a proven way to reduce this risk. However, most commonly available self-management programs do not address the unique needs of people with SCI. Therefore, programs tailored for people with SCI are needed. We sought to test a new program, the Spinal Cord Injury Self-Management (SCISM) Program, to see if people with SCI liked it and to see if it had any positive effects on their health. A total of 32 people with SCI participated and completed assessments related to mental health, physical health, reaching their goals, and their thoughts on the SCISM Program. Overall, participants liked the program, and there were some positive estimated effects on health and goal attainment. Overall, we should explore the use of the SCISM Program more because people with SCI want to be able to better manage their health.