Michel LeFeuvre-Watson, (L), an inpatient at Toronto Rehab’s Lyndhurst Centre, with Sandra Mills, the Patient Education and Engagement Lead in the Spinal Cord Rehab Program, looking at the “Spinal Cord Essentials” website. (Photo: UHN)
Patients of Toronto Rehab’s Spinal Cord Injury Rehab Program now have helpful resources, all in one place, online at University Health Network (UHN).
“Spinal Cord Essentials” is a health information hub where patients can find various materials on how to navigate life with spinal cord injury. It was built to help patients through the various stages of recovery and make for a safe transition to their communities.
While previously hosted on an external site, the Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) team had a chance to migrate the content over, for easier use.
The website provides worldwide access to up-to-date educational materials for everyone from patients and family members to physicians and other health care providers.
Sandra Mills, the Patient Education and Engagement Lead in the Spinal Cord Rehab Program, says the website will make a huge difference in creating better access to this information.
“Newly injured patients will now have these resources and can start the learning process earlier,” Sandra says. “We also continue to add new material and review information to ensure patients are getting the most current, evidence-based information.”
Available online and in hard copy, more than 85 resources can be found in English, French, Chinese (Traditional) Farsi and Spanish. Arabic and Portuguese resources have recently been added as well, showcasing the program’s commitment to equity among their patient population.
The materials cover a wide range of topics, split into five different domains including: self-care, general health, mobility, community living, and planning and contacts. These categories include topics from how manage bowel and bladder care to returning to driving.
Providing patients with the best resources
Michel LeFeuvre-Watson is an inpatient at Toronto Rehab’s Lyndhurst Centre where teams are dedicated to supporting patients in their recovery, following an SCI, so they can get back to doing the things they love most.
“‘Intermittent catheterization (IC) for women’ was a big one for me to have access to,” Michel says. “This information gave me hope that I would be able to do this procedure with the care and guidance of the nursing staff here.”
The website means that even after a patient leaves the centre, they still have the support and information to do these everyday tasks.
“Learning to do my own IC’s was, in reality, more stressful for me than relearning how to walk again,” Michel says. “The information is clear, concise and it is really great that they are readily available now not only at Lyndhurst but also online.
“This will make things much less stressful when I get home.”
Users can access the materials and more at www.spinalcordessentials.ca or by visiting the Spinal Rehab section of the Toronto Rehab’s website.