ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Neurorehabilitation
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1541056
The Experience of Seeking Recovery Interventions for Spinal Cord Injury During the First Year: Barriers and Facilitators
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, United States
- 2The MetroHealth System, Cleveland, Ohio, United States
- 3School of Law, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States
- 4College of Arts and Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States
- 5Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States
- 6VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Cleveland, Ohio, United States
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Introduction. Spinal cord injury (SCI) is life changing. Recovery is multi-faceted. Knowing that most injuries are incomplete with potential for meaningful recovery and that there is a limited time during which that recovery occurs, maximizing recovery potential early is essential. The objective of this study was to investigate the experience of newly injured people with SCI and their support persons (SP) while they seek out recovery options during the first-year post injury.Methods. Semi-structured interviews were conducted at three intervals across the first year after having sustained SCI in both Veterans and civilians as well as their SP. Interviews were conducted utilizing an interview guide grounded in two frameworks. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and deidentified. Codes were developed, revised, or added using a constructivist, grounded theory, analytic approach.Results. The main source of recovery options was the inpatient rehabilitation team, with delayed access to research teams and people living with SCI. Insurance and institutions are barriers or facilitators to accessing recovery interventions with clear differences between Veteran and civilian healthcare systems. People and knowledge are facilitators. Interest in clinical trials for recovery grows over time, but there are differences based on race. Finding clinical trials and determining eligibility are significant knowledge barriers to the community. Discussion. This study has revealed knowledge and power imbalances that significantly impede access to recovery interventions sought by people living with SCI and their support persons during their first year after injury. There are clear differences in the experiences of Veterans and civilians.
Keywords: spinal cord injury, access to care, Recovery interventions, clinical trials, support person, Barriers to care, Rehabilitation, lived experience. (Min.5-Max. 8)
Received: 06 Dec 2024; Accepted: 07 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Anderson, Bryden, Gran, Hinze and Richmond. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Kim D Anderson, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, United States
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