Spinal Cord Injury Solutions

In Halifax, a young man with a new SCI and his family are forced to pay out of their own pockets for a wheelchair.

Meanwhile, in Vancouver, a young mother with a SCI has spent three months in bed recovering from a pressure ulcer.

Meanwhile, researchers in Manitoba can’t find enough participants for a promising rehabilitation project.

Technically, all three scenarios are fiction. But there’s an excellent chance that they are all being played out by real people, right now.

For most of my 40-year career, I’ve worked in the SCI field (some of you may remember me from my days as the Executive Director of the Canadian Paraplegic Association). After four decades, there’s been some real advances in SCI treatments, research and support programs. But despite the best efforts of many, the challenges for people with SCI remain — challenges presented by SCI itself, and those inherent in their environments.

People with SCI still have a wide range of unmet priority needs and experience serious secondary health complications. Throughout the SCI care continuum and research community, there needs to be more innovation, collaboration and cooperation so that these needs can be met.

The SCI Solutions Network is committed to leading this change. Our mission is to minimize disability and maximize the quality of life of people with SCI.

The Network was spearheaded by the Rick Hansen Foundation. Since 2003, with significant investments from Health Canada and Western Economic Development, RHF created several initiatives to improve the quality of life of Canadians with SCI — the Rick Hansen Wheels In Motion annual event, the SCI Translational Research Network (SCI-TRN) and the SCI Solutions Alliance.

Earlier this year, the SCI-TRN and the SCI Solutions Alliance merged into the SCI Solutions Network. Since then, the Network began the process of becoming an independent organization and is in the process of finalizing its business plan. In the coming months and through 2009, we’ll move into action, gaining the trust of key partners — organizations like the Canadian Paraplegic Association, provincial and territorial governments, researchers and their organizations, and medical and rehabilitation professionals and institutions. And naturally, people with SCI will take a lead role in directing the entire process.

The SCI Solutions Network works in three priority areas to meet its six primary objectives (see sidebar). First, we’re expanding our Network across Canada to deliver customized solutions to address the unmet priority needs of people with SCI. Second, we invest in promising SCI translational research — the transfer of knowledge into new tests and treatments that will reduce the impact of SCI and improve the quality of life of people with SCI. Finally, we identify and promote widespread adoption of “best practices” across the SCI care continuum — from acute care and rehabilitation, to research and support services.

Additionally, working with the Rick Hansen Foundation and the many individuals, organizations and institutions also committed to improving the quality of life of people with SCI, the Network is committed to expanding the “SCI solutions movement” at the provincial and local levels.

The goal is unprecedented collaboration throughout the SCI care continuum in order to achieve real quality-of-life improvements in the lives of all Canadians with SCI.

We’ll tell you more about who we are and what we’re doing in the next issue of Abilities. Meanwhile, I urge you to visit our site (www.scisolutionsnetwork.ca), where you can learn more about our work in customized solutions, translational research and best practices. You can also read our latest news, sign up for regular Network eNews updates, and discover ways you can join the solutions movement.