Multi-family group treatment studied for spinal cord injury

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

27-Mar-2014

Contact: Dennis Dyck dyck@wsu.edu 509-358-7618 Washington State University

SPOKANE, Wash.--Every year, more than 12,000 Americansmostly young mensuffer spinal cord injuries in car crashes, falls, sports and acts of violence. Those dealing with this life-changing condition may soon have a better way to cope, thanks to a new collaborative research project by Washington State University Spokane and St. Luke's Rehabilitation Institute.

"Spinal cord injury impacts so many aspects of a person's health and daily life, and we've recognized that more could be done to support this population," said Dennis Dyck, WSU professor of psychology who leads the project with Douglas Weeks, senior research investigator at St. Luke's Rehabilitation Institute.

The researchers will conduct a clinical trial to establish whether multi-family group treatment a psychoeducational intervention originally developed for schizophrenia can help improve the quality of life of persons with spinal cord injury and their caregivers. The two-year project is funded through a $289,495 psychosocial research grant from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, a private grant making foundation that focuses on spinal cord injury research and rehabilitation.

"We want to see if an intervention that provides more focus on psychological support is going to have a positive impact on the lives of patients and their caregivers," said Weeks, adding that spinal cord injury puts particular stress on family members who are suddenly thrust into the role of caregiver.

The research team will recruit 32 people who were discharged from inpatient treatment for spinal cord injury at St. Luke's Rehabilitation Institute within the past three years, along with their primary caregivers. Each patient-caregiver team will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: a group that will receive multi-family group treatment which offers individualized education, support and coping strategies to help manage spinal cord injury or an active control group that will be given general information in a lecture format.

Both groups will receive six months of treatment led by experienced clinicians at St. Luke's. The first groups will start this summer.

To determine the effectiveness of multi-family group treatment for those living with spinal cord injury, the researchers will measure outcomes in a wide variety of areas, such as participants' physical and psychological health, quality of life and level of involvement in their treatment, as well as the quality of relationships with their caregivers and caregiver burden.

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Multi-family group treatment studied for spinal cord injury