Beyond Physical Therapy: Collaborative Care Offers Hope for Post-SCI Wellbeing
Researchers in the Department of Neurologic Surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle tested the effectiveness of collaborative care (CC) versus usual care (UC) to improve the treatment of pain, depression, physical inactivity, and quality of life in outpatients with spinal cord injury (SCI).
For many people with a spinal cord injury, support from a case manager ends when they leave the hospital. For this study, a mental health-trained collaborative care manager (CM) was placed in two SCI outpatient clinics and supervised by clinical experts in pain and mental health treatment. Their role was to assess how the patients were doing, to help coordinate their medical care, to support them with decision making and to monitor their outcomes; they also provided brief psychological interventions to the patients via 12 in-person or telephonic sessions. Participants were randomly placed into either the collaborative care or the usual care groups.
Pain, Depression, & More: Study Tests Integrated Approach to Improve Quality of Life for Spinal Cord Injury Patients
Those placed in the collaborative care group chose the focus of their interventions; 61% chose pain; 31% chose physical activity, and 8% chose depression. The primary outcome was quality of life as measured by the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF at the end of treatment (4 months); other outcomes that were evaluated included quality of life at 8 months and pain intensity and interference, depression severity, and minutes per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity at 4 and 8 months.
From Pain Management to Psychosocial Support: How Collaborative Care Empowers Spinal Cord Injury Patients
The results showed a trend for greater improvement in quality of life for those receiving Collaborative Care. Specifically, the study reported significantly greater improvement in pain interference at 4- and 8-months and in depression at 4-months; there did not appear to be a significant change in those focusing on physical activity. The study showed that delivering integrated medical and psychological care after those with spinal cord injury had been discharged from the hospital can improve the management of common and chronic conditions.
You can read more here: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/neu.2023.0200
The law firm of Cantor Grana Buckner Bucci understands the effectiveness of a team approach for our clients, and our team brings unparalleled expertise to your case. If you have a spinal cord injury, our team will provide our expertise to you and maximize your compensation; call us.
