The Empowerment Project:
Health Partnerships for Successful Aging with SCI
The Empowerment Project was a program within the University of Washington Department of Rehabilitation Medicine designed to foster healthy aging and quality of life after SCI. Funded through a three-year Creating Opportunity and Independence Portfolio Sustainable Impact Project grant from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, the project was directed by Maria Regina Reyes, MD, associate professor in the UW Department of Rehabilitation Medicine.
The Empowerment Project worked to tackle the challenge of healthy aging with SCI by creating and pioneering two new clinical and educational programs:
- Personalized spinal cord injury health summaries and care guides
Portable health care documents outline individualized lifetime health surveillance and maintenance needs after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation, and provide guidance on appropriate SCI-related disease evaluation and management.
- Personal SCI Health Care Summary
- SCI Discharge Care Guide for Patients: Health
Information and Follow-up Recommendations
- Health Guides: 23 printable guides on important SCI health topics
- Videos: 30 short videos showing wheelchair skills, improving hand function, respiratory and leg-wrapping techniques, and profiling individuals aging with an SCI.
- Online peer-led self-management course
The SCI Thrive study and course have be completed and are not offered at this time. Join our email list for updates. Click on ”Subscribe” at the bottom of this page.