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"People with SCIs are entitled to live as independent a life as possible, not just to survive. That’s where the Spinal Cord Injury Center comes in," says project manager Gunilla Åhrén. "Right now we’re working on what legal form the Center should take to be able to carry on optimally and both apply for donations and sell training courses."

Expanding knowledge about spinal cord injuries

30 April, 2021

INTERACTION. Work to set up a center of competence for spinal cord injuries began four years ago. Since then, although COVID-19 has slowed progress, much has happened. For a start, a major knowledge survey about spinal cord injuries (SCIs) has just received the go-ahead, peer health coaches have been trained, and a network for younger researchers working on SCIs is being supported.

Ryggmärgsskadecentrum is facilitated at Högsbo Hospital. It has no official English name, but directly translated it could have been called ‘The Gothenburg Spinal Cord Injury Center’. Like many others, project manager Gunilla Åhrén works from home because of COVID-19.

Outside the Spinal Cord Injury Center’s premises at Högsbo Hospital. Project manager Gunilla Åhrén is a strong, determined person who runs the project with the same focus as when she competed in alpine (downhill or slalom) skiing in the Paralympics during the 1980s, winning gold medals in downhill racing and other competitive events. One year after her alpine skiing career ended, she fell off a horse in an undramatic way and was paralyzed from the hips down. That was 30 years ago this year.

“The peer coaches vary in terms of geography, age and injuries. Only someone who has experienced trauma similar to that of an injured person can understand what it’s really like,” says Gunilla Åhrén.

Both Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Sahlgrenska Academy collaborate with user organizations through the Spinal Cord Injury Center.

New advanced course

Katharina Stibrant Sunnerhagen, Senior Consultant and Professor at the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, standing outside the Department of Health and Rehabilitation. The Spinal Cord Injury Center fills an important niche by coordinating and structuring knowledge and its transfer, both through existing knowledge and by developing new knowledge and the tools required for this purpose.

Katharina Stibrant Sunnerhagen, Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine and Senior Consultant at Sahlgrenska Academy’s Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, was one of the initiators of the Spinal Cord Injury Center. She describes a new advanced course on SCI rehabilitation that the Center is providing jointly with the development unit at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience.

“The course has put both the Gothenburg Spinal Cord Injury Center and Sahlgrenska Academy on the map in the Nordic region. It’s also been presented at both Nordic and international conferences; and ISCoS, the International Spinal Cord Society, has shown great interest in the new concept.”

In collaboration with the Spinal Cord Injury Center, Sahlgrenska University Hospital can demonstrate the expertise available in the specialty and use it to improve life for people with SCIs, in the region and nationwide, Sunnerhagen believes.

“For the Academy, it’s an opportunity to establish a network of SCI researchers in Sweden and abroad, starting with the network we’ve created for younger researchers, but also with our international advisers.”

Knowledge for those who need it most

Lamprini Lili is a Senior Consultant, specialist in SCIs, and doctoral student at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy.

One researcher in this network is Lamprini Lili, who belongs to Sunnerhagen’s research group.

“As a doctoral student, I’ve been able to work with active researchers through the network. The Spinal Cord Injury Center benefits me as a clinician, too, by spreading knowledge to those who need it most. This makes the patients better equipped to keep track of their own difficulties, which makes our monitoring job more efficient,” Lili says.

“My dream is that the Center should be able to train and provide certification in breathing skills, so that there are at least two people working during each shift, in every emergency department in Sweden, who are well informed about the breathing aspect. It would benefit not only people with SCIs but also other patients, such as COVID sufferers, for example,” Sunnerhagen says.

The Spinal Cord Injury Center is run by, first, the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology at the University of Gothenburg and, second, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, jointly with Region Västra Götaland, with support from the Sten A Olsson Foundation for Research and Culture.

  • More about Ryggmärgsskadecentrum: https://ryggmargsskadecentrum.se
  • Mer om Stenastiftelsen:  www.stenastiftelsen.se

TEXT & FOTO: ANNA REHNBERG

 

In the Department of Health and Rehabilitation. Lamprini Lili demonstrates to Katharina Stibrant Sunnerhagen how, in her research, Lili uses kinematics to understand better how an SCI has affected arm mobility. She shows this both in detail and at activity level by comparing observations with clinical scales and with scales that measure people’s own perceptions of their arm function.

 

“The purpose is to improve arm assessments after spinal cord injury, planning rehabilitation and evaluation of various interventions,” Lili says.

 

The Spinal Cord Injury Center has premises at Högsbo Hospital, but this is the first time Gunilla Åhrén has been here in over six months. She is working from home because of COVID-19.

 

 

 

By: Elin Lindström
Tagged With: institutionen för neurovetenskap och fysiologi, Samverkan

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Contribute to the Act Sustainable Research Conference 2022, 16-18 November

PhD students, researchers and teachers at the University of Gothenburg can now send proposals for contributions to the Act Sustainable Research Conference 2022. Deadline is August 26! The conference, which is organized 16-18 November as part of Chalmers and Gothenburg University’s joint sustainability week Act Sustainable. The theme of the conference is “Sustainability in times of declining democracy and increasing polarization: What knowledge and actions do we need?”

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You will now find comprehensive information on construction projects that affect the Sahlgrenska Academy in the Staff Portal.

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