Abstract
Study design
A descriptive qualitative study.
Objectives
To evaluate a pilot project enabling people with spinal cord injury (SCI) to have their support workers accompany them into a non-SCI specialist/public hospital (excluding ICU) to perform selected care.
Setting
The study was conducted in New Zealand.
Methods
Interviews and focus groups with people with SCI, support workers, care agency staff, and hospital staff who participated in the pilot project.
Results
Twenty-five individuals participated in the study. Two themes captured participants’ experiences of the pilot: ‘Maintaining individualised care’ and ‘Role, tasks and responsibilities. Support workers were described as knowledgeable about SCI care needs and being better positioned to provide individualised care for people with SCI than general nursing staff. Participants with SCI felt less anxious having a support worker with them, and perceived less risk of acquiring secondary health complications during the hospital admission. Good communications is important to ensure there is a shared understanding of the role and responsibilities of having an unregistered support worker in the hospital environment.
Conclusions
Having their regular support worker during admission to public hospital improved the SCI-specific care received. Support workers reduced the demand on hospital nursing staff who did not always have the time or specialist SCI knowledge to provide individualised care. People with SCI may be more likely to access medical assistance earlier and not defer hospital admissions if they can have support workers accompany them into hospital.
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Acknowledgements
The research team would like to thank the all the participants and the people who helped with recruitment for the study.
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This report was commissioned and funded by the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC). The content and conclusions do not necessarily represent the official position of ACC or represent ACC policy
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All authors apart from MA were involved in the study design. JN and MA were responsible for the data collection. All authors were involved in the data analysis. JN was responsible for the first draft the manuscript and all authors contributed to further edits and iterations of the manuscript.
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Nunnerley, J.L., Martin, R.A., Aldridge, M. et al. Access to community support workers during hospital admission for people with spinal cord injury: a pilot study. Spinal Cord Ser Cases 7, 3 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41394-020-00370-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41394-020-00370-6
