Research Focus Group for Healthcare Professionals – How does length of stay after spinal cord injury impact rehabilitation outcome?

How does length of stay after spinal cord injury impact rehabilitation outcome? Are you a healthcare professional with 5 or more years’ experience working in one of the 8 NHS England funded SCI Centres? You may be interested in taking part in this study.

Research has suggested that longer stays in a rehabilitation hospital after SCI may lead to greater neurological recovery and associated functional gains (within the functional limitations of injury, Yarkony et al., 1988; Burns, et al., 2017). The downside is that longer hospital stays can lead to people feeling less prepared to live in the community, feel socially isolated, have less contact with friends and family, and impact on return to work (Burns et al., 2017; Fotopoulou et al., 2021). So, a pertinent question is – what might be the ideal length of stay in rehabilitation after SCI?

Psychologist researchers at the National Spinal Injuries Centre are part of an international study to examine this issue. The study is led by the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab in Chicago, USA, and involves England, Australia, Canada, Netherlands, and other sites in the USA. The aim of the research is to understand how differing lengths of stay across these countries have impacted the experiences of individuals with SCI, their support partners, and rehabilitation staff.

Recruitment for the first phase of this 5-year study has just started. We are working alongside the 8 NHS England commissioned SCI Centres, and they are supporting us to recruit people with SCI, who are at least one year on from their rehabilitation stay, and their support partners, as well as other organisations such as SIA, Back Up, Aspire and MASCIP.

Are you interested in finding out more or taking part? Download the recruitment poster for more information.