Abstract
In the UK, 20% of people with spinal cord injury (SCI) are discharged from rehabilitation into an elderly care home. Despite this, and knowledge that the home is central to health and wellbeing, little research has examined the impact of being in care homes on the health and wellbeing of people with SCI. The purpose of this study was to address this gap. Twenty adults who lived in care homes or had done so recently for over two years were interviewed in-depth. Qualitative data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Analyses revealed that living in a care home environment severely damages quality of life, physical health and psychological wellbeing in the short and long-term. Reasons why quality of life, health, and wellbeing were damaged are identified. These included a lack of freedom, control, and flexibility, inability to participate in community life, inability to sustain relationships, safety problems, restricted participation in work and leisure time physical activity, lack of meaning, self-expression, and a future, loneliness, difficulties with the re-housing process, depression, and suicidal thoughts and actions. It is concluded that for people with SCI, the care home environment violates social dignity, is oppressive, and denies human rights. Implications for housing and health care policies are also offered.
Highlights
Spinal cord injury (SCI), as a major disruptive life event, instigates a multiplicity of complex issues that the newly disabled person, his or her family, and public policy need to deal with
The findings reveal that the care home environment severely damages the Quality of life (QoL), physical health, and psychological wellbeing of people with SCI
Accessible and adapted housing will be an investment that will significantly help the current and future ageing and/disability population. The purpose of this original study was to examine the impact of being in a care home on the lives of people with SCI
Summary
Spinal cord injury (SCI), as a major disruptive life event, instigates a multiplicity of complex issues that the newly disabled person, his or her family, and public policy need to deal with. One fundamental issue involves housing [1]. Following a lengthy period of rehabilitation in a spinal injury hospital, the individual with SCI is discharged into the community. Once in the community they require an accessible house in order to meet their new needs. For many disabled people such housing is scarce [1]. As a result of this scarcity, often the only place to live for a significant amount of people with SCI is in a care home—a type of residential accommodation, sometimes referred to as a nursing home, where a number of elderly people often live and on-site care services are provided
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