A young woman with a spinal cord injury waits for treatment. Photo: Sue Eitel/Special Programs to Address the Needs of Survivors
St. Boniface Spinal Cord Injury Center and Community Reintegration Program
Implementing Partner: St. Boniface Haiti Foundaiton (SBHF)
Funding Period: December 2010 – November 2013
Amount: $1,663,194
Purpose: Improve the provision of clinical and community-based rehabilitative care for persons with spinal cord (SCI) injuries in Haiti.
Objectives
- Decrease morbidity/mortality rates for 30 spinal cord injury patients
- Ensure 30 SCI patients have access to adequate rehabilitation services, as well as functioning orthotics and wheelchairs
- Ensure 15 SCI patients receive daily occupational and physical therapy sessions, and bi-weekly psychosocial groups, and that they can participate in weekly community reintegration activities
- Provide mobile care for approximately 15 SCI community-based patients through interdisciplinary monthly home visits, monthly orthotics check-ups, and community-based support groups
- Provide a vocational and livelihood training program, as well as continuing education opportunities to 30 SCI patients
- Increase clinical competency for 15 local and 100 national medical professionals, providing an opportunity to learn relevant, sustainable skills in rehabilitative care
In Haiti, the St. Boniface Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Center and Community Reintegration Program works to assist those with existing spinal cord injury by improving the quality and the amount of clinical and community-based rehabilitative services for them. The program provides hospital-based clinical care, physical and occupational therapy, psychosocial support, wheelchair and orthotics support, family caregiver training, and vocational training. The program also provides mobile care for SCI patients who do not have access to hospital-based services. Staff in mobile clinics provide medical care and physical therapy to spinal cord injury patients living in Haitian communities, while monitoring their progress. Clinic staff also provide vocational training for those with SCI related disabilities.
The program also works to ensure that the Haitian medical system is better prepared to treat those newly injured by training Haitian medical professionals in clinical and rehabilitation care delivery.
The program staff and patients work on behalf of both existing and future SCI patients by advocating for increased accessibility for those with mobility related injuries, as well as their inclusion in the community. |
