Abstract
Study design
Explorative qualitative study based on an interpretative phenomenological approach.
Objectives
This study explored the possibility of transferring knowledge and skills from a spinal cord injury (SCI) unit to the home environment; the individual and structural factors that potentially influenced this transfer; and its compatibility with a meaningful everyday life.
Setting
Hospital-based rehabilitation unit and community in Denmark.
Methods
Fourteen individuals with SCI were selected with maximum variation according to age, sex, marital status, and level of injury. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted in the participants’ homes, 2–10 months after discharge from an SCI unit. Data analysis involved taking an interpretative phenomenological approach combined with a template analysis and applying the transfer of training theory to the discussion.
Results
Transitioning from the SCI unit to the home environment involved a multidimensional change of context in which most of the participants’ previous life roles had changed. This overarching theme had a decisive influence on: balancing loss and acceptance, facing external structural barriers, and the strength of social relationships when the knowledge and skills acquired at the unit were applied in a meaningful everyday life.
Conclusions
Transition from the SCI unit to the home environment is influenced by a multidimensional change of context that may restrict the use of acquired skills post-discharge, provide distant prospects for tertiary health promotion, and aggravate the experience of loss in people with SCI. Maintaining relationships is a strong mediator for transferring skills and re-establishing a meaningful everyday life.
Explorative qualitative study based on an interpretative phenomenological approach.
Objectives
This study explored the possibility of transferring knowledge and skills from a spinal cord injury (SCI) unit to the home environment; the individual and structural factors that potentially influenced this transfer; and its compatibility with a meaningful everyday life.
Setting
Hospital-based rehabilitation unit and community in Denmark.
Methods
Fourteen individuals with SCI were selected with maximum variation according to age, sex, marital status, and level of injury. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted in the participants’ homes, 2–10 months after discharge from an SCI unit. Data analysis involved taking an interpretative phenomenological approach combined with a template analysis and applying the transfer of training theory to the discussion.
Results
Transitioning from the SCI unit to the home environment involved a multidimensional change of context in which most of the participants’ previous life roles had changed. This overarching theme had a decisive influence on: balancing loss and acceptance, facing external structural barriers, and the strength of social relationships when the knowledge and skills acquired at the unit were applied in a meaningful everyday life.
Conclusions
Transition from the SCI unit to the home environment is influenced by a multidimensional change of context that may restrict the use of acquired skills post-discharge, provide distant prospects for tertiary health promotion, and aggravate the experience of loss in people with SCI. Maintaining relationships is a strong mediator for transferring skills and re-establishing a meaningful everyday life.
| Originalsprog | Engelsk |
|---|---|
| Tidsskrift | Spinal Cord |
| Vol/bind | 59 |
| Udgave nummer | 3 |
| Sider (fra-til) | 336-346 |
| Antal sider | 11 |
| ISSN | 1362-4393 |
| DOI | |
| Status | Udgivet - mar. 2021 |