Spinal cord injury (SCI) affects every aspect of a person’s bodily functions. As such, for a person to survive and strive in the community after SCI, both a comprehensive and effective rehabilitation program, as well as life-sustaining healthcare (i.e., SCI-specific medical services, equipment, and supplies) is needed. Although Canada has a publicly funded universal healthcare system, provinces have flexibility in determining how rehabilitation is delivered and in defining ‘essential’ healthcare.
This workshop will consist of two lectures on current standards of care in acute SCI rehabilitation and provision of life-sustaining SCI healthcare services, equipment, and supplies in Canada, followed by an initial overview of standards in other comparable countries and discussion of next steps for developing equity and consistency in Canada for SCI rehabilitation and provision of SCI-related healthcare needs.
Upon completion of this workshop, attendees will understand:
That public policies and practices in each province involves means-testing for provision of 1. attendant services for activities of daily living (ADL) in 5/10 provinces; 2. neurogenic bladder and bowel supplies (NBBS) in 9/10 provinces and 3. power and manual wheelchairs in 4/10 provinces.
Income levels at which public support ceases can be lower than the poverty line.
Current standards of care relating to initial in-patient SCI rehabilitation provision of essential medical supplies in Canada involves wide discrepancies, inequities and inadequacies.
Processes for moving forward to develop a Canadian national standard for inpatient rehabilitation and for provision of SCI-related medical services and supplies.
