Article

PURPOSE: To explore the experience of rehabilitation from the perspective of
individuals with tetraplegia. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews of between 40
and 60 min were conducted with three men and one woman, with spinal injuries at
C7 or higher, within 6 months of discharge from inpatient spinal cord injury
(SCI) rehabilitation. Data were subject to an Interpretive Phenomenological
Analysis (IPA). RESULTS: Participants described their injuries as more than a
biological impairment that limited certain functional abilities. For them, SCI
was a sudden event that also disrupted one's "life biography". Interviews
uncovered three key themes essential to an individual's ability to restore
feelings of self-agency and biographical continuity: The importance of
information, regaining control, and restoring a sense of personal narrative.
CONCLUSION: Findings from studies using IPA have much to contribute to discussion
and debate at the level of rehabilitation theory and can guide future research
directions. The findings of the present study support a growing body of
literature that argues that rehabilitation research needs to focus more intensely
on the biographical disruption caused by SCI. Implications for Rehabilitation
Participants in the present study experienced a significant disruption to their
biographical narratives following a SCI as they entered an unknown and uncertain
world. The findings from the present study provide an evidence-base that is best
applied to discussion regarding psychosocial adjustment at the level
rehabilitation theory. The concepts of identity and biographical disruption are
appearing more frequently in qualitative literature and both merit further
investigation to assess their prevalence among the wider SCI populations.

Langue : ANGLAIS