Clinical Adaptation of the Spinal Cord Injury Quality of Life Psychosocial Measures

This research was funded by an award from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation and concluded in April, 2020.

The purpose of this study was to validate the items of the Spinal Cord Injury– Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) assessment and improve how people use the SCI-QOL scores to describe different levels of social and emotional experiences among individuals living with a spinal cord injury (SCI).

The SCI-QOL assessment measures physical-medical, physical functioning, emotional and social health in people with SCI.

The goal was to develop a tool that health care professionals and individuals with SCI can use to more accurately assess what the impact is on an individual’s well-being and what their social and emotional outcomes are over time as a result of medical care, medications, or treatments received.

Co-principal investigators on this grant were Allen Heinemann, PhD, Director, Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research, and Linda Ehrlich-Jones, RN, PhD, Associate Director, Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research and Research.

Heinemann AW, Nitsch KP, Gracz K, et al. Implementing Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Inpatient Rehabilitation: Challenges and Solutions. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. May 2022;103(5S):S67-S77. doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2021.05.010

Nitsch KP, Stipp K, Gracz K, Ehrlich-Jones L, Graham ID, Heinemann AW. Integrating Spinal Cord Injury - Quality of Life instruments into rehabilitation: Implementation science to guide adoption of patient-reported outcome measures. The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine. Nov 2021;44(6):940-948. doi:10.1080/10790268.2020.1712893

Heinemann AW, Nitsch KP, Ehrlich-Jones L, et al. Effects of an Implementation Intervention to Promote Use of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures on Clinicians' Perceptions of Evidence-Based Practice, Implementation Leadership, and Team Functioning. J Contin Educ Health Prof. Spring 2019;39(2):103-111. doi:10.1097/CEH.0000000000000249