Vägen till ett självständigt liv? : en studie om Rekryteringsgruppens betydelse för ryggmärgsskadades rehabilitering

Sammanfattning: Aim ”Rekryteringsgruppen” (RG) is an organisation that through co-operating with the National Health service aims at optimizing the ability for physically disabled persons to rehabilitate. RG is a non-profit organisation ”using physical and mental exercise for disabled people, mainly neurologically disabled persons.” One of the goals that RG wants to achieve is ”that the target group will be able to live such an active and independent life as possible”. As no previous studies have been done in order to review the adaptation of RG:s work and its effects on the disabled, the purpose of this paper is to examine spinal cord injured individuals perception of independence concerning situation of life, ability to function and physical activity. Method Data have been collected by using three questionnaires. The first two were handed out by one of the staff to all six participants at one of RG:s camps during the autumn of 2008 for newly injured persons. The third questionnaire was sent by post to all 71 participants who have attended RG:s camps since 2006. They were asked to answer questions about their background, independence, need of personal assistance, how they feel about their situation of life, their attitude to physical exercise and the impact RG has had on their rehabilitation. Results Among those who have been at RG:s camps there is a rise of the mean value in 9 out of 10 categories (one remains unchanged). 30 out of 32 of those who answered questionnaire 3 agree fully or partly that physical activity gives them a positive feeling of achieving something. 28 out of these 32 also claim that RG has given them a positive view of what physical activity can entail. The majority of the participants think that training/physical exercise is an important aspect in order to function as well as possible in daily life and 24 out of 27 claim that they feel much more independent and confident. Overall the participants have also improved their knowledge within the fields of physical strength, fitness, mobility and independence after having attended RG:s camps. Conclusion The survey shows that the camps of Rekryteringsgruppen affect the way the participants experience their independence. After having attended an RG camp the participants have a deeper knowledge of their capability of functioning in their daily lives and what physical exercise can do to them.