16 | Time-Related Aspects

The aspect of time can have an impact on the lived experience of persons with spinal cord injury/disorder (SCI/SCD)  – on a person's independence in daily activities and participation in economic, social, and community life.

This is the story of Stefan, an adolescent born with spina bifida, a congenital condition affecting the central nervous system, who also incurred a traumatic cervical spinal cord injury (SCI). Stefan's case highlights how the aspect of time impacts his independence in daily activities and lived experience in general.

At the beginning of the rehabilitation programme a comprehensive assessment was conducted to identify Stefan’s and the rehabilitation team's perspective of his functioning status.

Based on the results of the assessment conducted by the rehabilitation team as well as Stefan's own statements about his functioning, intervention targets and concrete goals to achieve during Stefan's participation in the three-week rehabilitation programme were identified.

While the nurse, physical therapist (PT) and occupational therapist (OT) were responsible for most of the interventions during Stefan’s three-week rehabilitation programme, a number of intervention targets were also addressed by the physician, psychologist and other health professionals.

Shortly before Stefan's three-week rehabilitation programme ended, a final assessment took place to see whether the goals Stefan and the rehabilitation team set at the beginning of the programme were achieved.

While few studies have specifically explored the temporal aspects of living with a spinal cord injury (SCI) or a spinal cord disease (SCD), this case of Stefan, a person living with spina bifida and additionally with a SCI, highlights that the factor of time is an issue that persons with SCI/SCD, as well as others around the person, must grapple with on a day-to-day basis.

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