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

Abstract EN

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.