Spinal cord injury rehabilitation: the experience of women

Abstract

Study Design: Qualitative study. Objectives: To develop the knowledge base regarding women's experiences of spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation. Setting: United Kingdom. Methods: Qualitative interviews with 10 women from four regional SCI rehabilitation centres were transcribed verbatim and analysed according to grounded theory. Results: The central psychosocial problem identified for women during SCI rehabilitation was vulnerability. Vulnerability was amplified by lack of privacy within the rehabilitation centre, by negative staff interactions (associated with perceived lack of control and lack of respect) and by women's minority status in the rehabilitation setting, which at times left women feeling marginalized and inferior. Vulnerability was contained by: negotiating privacy and space; receiving support and encouragement from staff, other patients and family; and by adopting a positive attitude. Conclusion: The SCI rehabilitation environment and interactions within it have the potential to influence significantly, either positively or negatively, women's feelings and behaviours as they begin to negotiate a revised identity as a disabled person. There is a need for further research to be carried out in this area in order that women's needs and concerns can be better understood and clinical practice developed accordingly.

Barriers to sexual activity: counselling spinal cord injured women in Malaysia

“…Psychological factors have been shown to limit sexual activity more than physical impairments. [1][2][3]8,11 This is evident from our findings, whereby the frequency of psychological factors identified as barriers to sexual activity exceeded that of physical factors. The women in our study perceived themselves to be less attractive, less confident of themselves, feeling dependant and have a concern over satisfying their partners, and these are consistent with earlier studies.…”

“…[1][2][3] The extent of sexual dysfunction is influenced by the severity of the neurological lesion, the presence of bladder and bowel incontinence, pain and spasticity, as well as difficulties with interpersonal and social relationships. 4 Sexuality issues in females with SCI have not received as much attention as their male counterparts, likely because women traditionally have a passive role in sexual intercourse and because their fertility is not affected.…”

Competencia para el cuidado de la salud en mujeres con trauma raquimedular

“…Esto es causa de complicaciones como infección urinaria, sepsis, reflujo retrógrado hacia uréteres por aumento de la presión vesical y falla renal. La urostomía y otros catéteres ureterocutáneos son considerados como la opción para el cuidado de la vejiga neurogénica en las mujeres con TRM cuadripléjicas; sin embargo, ningún régimen de salud en Colombia los considera y se requieren más estudios para evaluar su beneficio (28) . Para el 70,4 % de las mujeres estudiadas, la autoestima podría considerarse un factor protector para su salud; no obstante, casi la tercera parte tenían baja autoestima y fue clínicamente relevante en las mujeres con vejiga e intestino neurogénicos y actividad sexual.…”

Attending to biographical disruption: the experience of rehabilitation following tetraplegia due to spinal cord injury

“…Second, rehabilitation providers address physical issues at the expense of emotional, social and sexual concerns [10,13]. Third, rehabilitation teams have the potential to create a positive, supportive environment, or a negative and challenging environment [11,[13][14][15]. Fourth and most important, people with SCI feel inadequately prepared for participating in the community, in large part, because the skills taught in rehabilitation had little relevance to community living [10,16,17].…”