Spinal Cord Injuries

Objective: To test a model comprising explanatory (neurologic impairment, coping, personality) and mediating (resilience, self-efficacy, hope, social support) variables on psychological adjustment and burden among family caregivers of individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) vs spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods: Structural equation modeling with multigroup analysis. Setting: Six rehabilitation centers across New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. Participants: A total of 181 family members (N=181; 131 TBI, 50 SCI). Interventions: Not applicable.

Background: Care partners (ie, informal family caregivers) of individuals with health problems face considerable physical and emotional stress, often with a substantial negative impact on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of both care partners and care recipients. Given that these individuals are often overwhelmed by their caregiving responsibilities, low-burden self-management interventions are needed to support care partners to ensure better patient outcomes.

Aim: To identify factors reported with negative and positive outcomes for caregivers of the traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury cohorts, to investigate what interventions have been studied to support carers and to report what effectiveness has been found. Methods: Scoping systematic review. Electronic databases and websites were searched from 1990 to December 2015. Studies were agreed for inclusion using pre-defined criteria. Relevant information from included studies was extracted and quality assessment was completed.

The grounded theory study from which this paper is drawn explored the experiences of partners and other long-term family carers living with, and supporting, a person with a spinal cord injury over long periods of time. Eleven (11) female carers with between eight and 33 years of living with, and supporting, a family member with a spinal cord injury were purposively recruited to the study. The study identified a number of key issues for long-term carers in this context.