Participation through mobility - influence of wheelchair mobility on participation for people with acquired paraplegia

Status:

completed 11/2010

Aims:

The project "participation through mobility" pursued the goal to understand the influence of exercise and sport on the quality of life, on the participation in social life and on the successful rehabilitation of paraplegia. Furthermore, the development of a standardized assessment instrument for the objective assessment of wheelchair mobility in paraplegia was attempted, which may serve as an evaluation method for quality assurance of rehabilitation measures and to ensure the sustainability of rehabilitation success in spinal cord injury in the future.

Activities/Methods:

The project "participation through mobility" pursued the goal to understand the influence of exercise and sport on the quality of life, on the participation in social life and on the successful rehabilitation of paraplegia. Furthermore, the development of a standardized assessment instrument for the objective assessment of wheelchair mobility in paraplegia was attempted, which may serve as an evaluation method for quality assurance of rehabilitation measures and to ensure the sustainability of rehabilitation success in spinal cord injury in the future.

Results:

Key findings: The wheelchair mobility appears as a necessity for people with a spinal cord injury to participate in various parts of social life. People with high wheelchair mobility are more commonly employed and are active in their free time and in sports. People who are in employment and who spend their leisure time actively and exercise assess their subjective health-related quality of life higher than people with an inactive lifestyle. The development and use of the AMR instrument has shown itself to be feasible, reliable, valid and necessary in the course of the project. Therefore, it is also intended to use the economic procedure in the future in other hospitals and for control of the movement and mobility-related rehabilitation. Conclusions: The results clearly show that an early onset and a continuously carried out promotion of wheelchair mobility is a key factor to success for participation and inclusion. Consequently, the need for integrating movement and exercise therapy in the rehabilitation process is essential to achieve a lasting success of rehabilitation after acquiring spinal cord injury.

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