Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Over 86,000 people in Canada are living with spinal cord injury (SCI), a catastrophic injury that can have devastating impacts for the individual and health system. People with SCI are at high risk of pressure injury (PI), sometimes called pressure wounds or bed sores. Over 90% of people with SCI will experience at least one PI. As one of the most complex and challenging healthcare issues, PI management requires ongoing access to community and specialist healthcare services, expensive equipment, and frequent dressing changes. The costs to the healthcare system are enormous, while the effects to the individual are even greater causing restrictions in mobility, social isolation, and potentially death. In our previous patient-oriented research (POR), we learned about the life changing effects of living with, and being at risk of, PI. We heard that many people experience significant physical, financial, and psychological impacts as a result of PI, along with fear and harm when accessing healthcare, particularly during acute admissions to hospital. We will build upon this work to conduct planning activities that catalyze new research collaborations and initiatives focused specifically around upon interactions with the healthcare system. Our overarching goal is to improve the health of Canadians living with SCI by drawing upon their lived experience to inform practice and research. To do this, we will conduct stakeholder consultations and planning activities to: 1) Describe PI-related healthcare interactions among persons with SCI accessing acute care services; 2) Support the development of a Canadian research team comprising diverse partners, including patients, healthcare providers, administrators, researchers, and trainees and new investigators, especially among rural, racialized, and underrepresented groups; and 3) Generate priorities and questions to inform the development of future POR, including an application for the CIHR Project Grant competition in Fall 2024.