Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and impact of a 12-week community-based program for wellness and weight management on weight control and fitness of people with spinal cord injury (SCI).Method: This was a one-group pre-post study conducted in a fitness center located on an urban hospital campus. A convenience sample consisted of 13 adults with SCI below the cervical level, who were at least 1 year post injury, had no upper extremity pathology, and were at least 10% over their recommended body weight. The intervention was a 12-week exercise and education program involving individualized diet and exercise recommendations, once weekly group nutrition and exercise education classes, and twice weekly exercise sessions (group and individual). Main outcome measures were weight, body mass index, skinfold body fat percent, BodPod, waist and hip girth and grip strength, and individualized goal achievement.Results: The non-parametric Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to test for significant changes in outcomes. Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) measured success at meeting participants’ 5 goals. Improvements were observed for weight (P = .04), skinfold body fat percent (P = .01), waist and hip girth (P = .004,P = .02, respectively), grip strength (P = .002), and resting systolic pressure (P = .012). Median GAS was 56.3, exceeding the expected score of 50.Conclusions: A hospital-based wellness and weight-control program is feasible and beneficial for persons with SCI.

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