Health Maintenance and the Patient-Provider Partnership
Health maintenance is considered a key outcome in the long term care of SCI patients. An individual patient’s health behavior plays a large role in his or her health maintenance. Such behavior encompasses a range of strategies that can be undertaken by an individual and supported by her health care team.
A key strategy to that result in health maintenance is the prevention of adverse events and comorbidities.1
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Box 1:
Health Maintenance and Secondary Complications
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Individual health behavior such as leading a healthy lifestyle may prevent and influence the development of these complications. Through offering education, counseling and training, rehabilitation programs hope to support a patient in preventing many avoidable complications and secondary conditions.
However, there is little evidence that supports the effects of such interventions once a patient has been released from the rehabilitation program.9 Once away from a facility, it is incumbent upon the patient him- or herself to bear the responsibility for prevention.
An example can be seen in one common complication affecting those with SCI over their lifetimes: the occurrence of pressure ulcers (PU) (also known as bedsores or decubitis; see box below).10
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After pneumonia and genitourinary issues, pressure ulcers are one of the most frequent SCI-associated medical complications.11,12
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Box 2:
Pressure Ulcers
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Although preventable under most circumstances, ulcerations can result in keeping individuals from working, attending school and reintegrating into communities.13 Furthermore, the prevalence of such ulcers increases over time following the injury.14
Both the treatment of pressure ulcers and their subsequent prevention are central aspects of overall health maintenance and therefore a rehabilitative outcome of vital importance.
The preventative aspects of an individual’s health behavior plays an important role.
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In examining one patient’s affliction with pressure ulcers, this case study aims to show that promoting health behaviors are one premise for achieving health maintenance. However, to achieve success the responsibility for the associated interventions should be shared by health practitioners and the patient himself.
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