Experiences of participation in everyday occupations among persons aging with a tetraplegia

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to gain understanding of participation in everyday occupations through life stories of persons aging with a traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). Method: A narrative method was used for data collection and a paradigmatic analysis was used to analyze data. Results: The analysis resulted in three themes that illustrate how the participants acted to participate in everyday occupations, how that changed over time, and some concerns about their future. The first theme illustrates how participants following SCI acted to become agents of their lives and participate in everyday occupations. The second theme illustrates how participants had to prioritize participation in meaningful occupations due to personal and environmental factors. The third theme shows how they had to try new strategies to continue participation in occupations, due to secondary health complications related to aging. Conclusions: This study captures how persons aging with tetraplegia acted to participate in everyday occupations from soon after the injury until several decades later. In addition, their ability to act and participate changed over time. Our findings provide knowledge that can guide clinicians in their work within this complex area of rehabilitation. Besides, it can also guide the work with policy recommendations for healthcare and social service systems.

Implications for Rehabilitation

• Aging with a SCI is a complex daily struggle in order to be able to continue acting and participating in everyday occupations, and thereby this gives implications for a lifelong support.

• This study provides knowledge that can guide clinicians in their work within this complex area of rehabilitation.

• Knowledge from this study can guide the work with policy recommendations for healthcare and social service systems.

• Aging
• occupation
• participation
• rehabilitation
• spinal cord injury
• tetraplegia

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the participants who shared their narratives of participation in everyday life, while aging with a traumatic SCI and RG Active Rehabilitation for their help in recruiting the participants.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Notice of Correction:

Since the first online publication of this article the Mean values have been updated in the Participants section from 57.3 to 57.63 and 37.25 + 10.5 to 27.13 ± 10.4.

Notes

¹This organization has a special interest in active rehabilitation and provides persons with SCI opportunities both to meet role models who have experienced living with a comparable type of injury and to participate in organized camps with different themes.