Building Connections After Spinal Cord Injury: New Resources Support Friendships and Social Participation

Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Week is an opportunity to raise awareness of the experiences of people living with spinal cord injury (SCI), while highlighting research that can help create greater inclusion, participation and connection in everyday life.

For many people, maintaining friendships and social connections can become more challenging following SCI. Changes in mobility, communication, confidence, routines and access to social activities can create barriers to staying connected with friends, family and community. The Hopkins Centre’s Seed Grant project, Supporting Friendships and Social Connections for People with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) and Acquired Brain Injury (ABI): Real Strategies for Sustainable Change, explored practical ways to address these challenges and support meaningful social relationships.   

Led by Associate Professor Melissa Kendall and a multidisciplinary project team, the research focused on understanding what helps people with SCI and ABI develop and maintain friendships and social connections. Importantly, the project aimed to translate these insights into practical strategies that can be used by people with disability, families, supporters and services.

 

Turning research into practical resources

 

A key outcome of the project is a new suite of accessible resources designed to help start conversations and promote greater understanding of friendship and social connection following SCI and ABI.

The resources include two PowerPoint presentations – one focused on SCI and one on ABI – with accompanying voiceovers, as well as printable posters and postcards. The resources provide practical information and strategies to support people to build and maintain friendships and participate in meaningful social activities.

By making the resources available in different formats, the project team hopes they can be used across a range of settings, including rehabilitation, community services, education and support environments.

View the resources here.

 

Connection is part of living well

 

Social connection is an important part of wellbeing, identity and quality of life. For people living with SCI, having opportunities to maintain friendships, develop new relationships and participate in their communities can be an important part of life after injury.

The project reflects The Hopkins Centre’s commitment to research that is grounded in lived experience and focused on real-world outcomes. It also highlights how Seed Grant projects can generate practical resources that help translate research findings into tools that can be used by people with disability, practitioners and the wider community.

This Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Week, The Hopkins Centre is proud to highlight research that recognises that rehabilitation and recovery are about more than physical health – they are also about connection, belonging, relationships and having opportunities to participate in the things that matter.

 

Explore the Supporting Friendships and Social Connections project and access the new resources: Supporting Friendships and Social Connections for People with SCI and ABI